Edward Douglass White, Carlesi v. New York — Opinion of the Court
“ And of course, conversely, it must be conceded that if it be that the act of the state in taking into consideration a prior offense committed against the United States after pardon under the circumstances stated was not in any degree a punishment for the prior crime, but was simply an exercise by the state of a local power within its exclusive cognizance, there could be no violation of the Constitution of the United States. ”
Edward Douglass White, Carlesi v. New York — Opinion of the Court
“ If the subsequent crime is such that, upon a first conviction, the offender might be punished, in the discretion of the court, by imprisonment for life, he must be sentenced to imprisonment in a state prison for life. ”
Edward Douglass White, Carlesi v. New York — Opinion of the Court
“ The whole controversy therefore is to be resolved by fixing the nature and character of the action of the state under the circumstances for the purpose of deciding under which of these two categories it is to be classed. When the issue is thus defined and limited its solution is free from difficulty, as it has been repeatedly and conclusively foreclosed by the prior adjudications of this court. ”
