Petitioner appealed from an order of the United States District Court for the District of South Dakota, Andrew W. Bogue, Chief Judge, denying his petition for writ of habeas corpus. The Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit, Bright, Circuit Judge, 684 F.2d 582, reversed and remanded with directions, and certiorari was granted. The Supreme Court, Justice Powell, held that: (1) the Eighth Amendment prohibits not only barbaric punishments, but also sentences that are disproportionate to the crime committed, and (2) sentence of life imprisonment without possibility of parole imposed upon defendant who was convicted of uttering no account check for $100 and who had three prior convictions for third-degree burglary, one prior conviction for obtaining money under false pretenses, one prior conviction of grand larceny, and one prior conviction of third-offense driving while intoxicated, was significantly disproportionate to his crime, and was prohibited by Eighth Amendment, because uttering a “no account” check was a nonviolent crime, defendant's prior felonies were relatively minor, the sentence was the most severe that the state could impose on any criminal and only one other state authorized life sentence without parole in circumstances of defendant's case; possibility of commutation under state law did not save defendant's otherwise unconstitutional sentence