In Trop v. Dulles, the U.S Supreme Court ruled in 1958 that stripping a person of their US citizenship as punishment for a crime is unconstitutional. The case involved Albert Trop, who was convicted by court-martial for desertion during World War II and subsequently lost his citizenship under Section 401(g) of the Nationality Act of 1940 which allowed denationalization as penalty for military desertion. In a split decision (5-4), Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the opinion stating that loss of nationality was cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by Eighth Amendment to Constitution. This ruling established that citizenship cannot be taken away as it would result in statelessness, which is "a form of punishment more primitive than torture" because it destroys an individual's political existence.

In the dissenting opinion for Trop v. Dulles, it was argued that the majority's decision to deem denationalization as cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment was a misinterpretation of constitutional principles. The dissenters believed that loss of nationality did not constitute physical punishment but rather a political consequence in response to military desertion during wartime. They contended that this penalty served as an effective deterrent against such acts of disloyalty and betrayal towards one's country. Furthermore, they criticized the majority’s reliance on “evolving standards of decency” to interpret the Constitution, asserting instead that its meaning should remain consistent with its original intent and historical practice.