In Hutto v. Davis, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Virginia State Department of Corrections, reversing a lower court's decision that had found an inmate's punishment to be cruel and unusual under the Eighth Amendment. The case involved Willie Lee Davis who was sentenced to 20 years imprisonment for possession with intent to distribute nine ounces of marijuana - a sentence which he argued was grossly disproportionate to his crime. The Fourth Circuit Court agreed with him and reduced his sentence on appeal, but this decision was overturned by the Supreme Court in a 5-4 ruling led by Justice Powell. The majority held that it is not within federal courts' jurisdiction to determine what constitutes as excessive state punishment unless it goes beyond all bounds of decency or involves torture or lingering death.

In the dissenting opinion for Hutto v. Davis, Justice Brennan disagreed with the majority's decision to overturn a lower court ruling that had reduced an inmate's sentence due to harsh conditions in Virginia prisons. He argued that the Supreme Court should not have taken up this case because it did not present any significant federal question or conflict among circuit courts of appeals. Furthermore, he believed that there was sufficient evidence presented at trial about overcrowding and violence in Virginia prisons which justified reducing Davis' sentence as a remedy under Eighth Amendment jurisprudence against cruel and unusual punishment. Justice Brennan also criticized his colleagues for ignoring established legal principles by reevaluating factual findings made by district courts and intervening prematurely before appellate courts could fully consider these issues on appeal.