80
Breyer, J., dissenting
draws such a distinction, upon which a sentence of life imprisonment, or death, may turn? If the legislature wanted to equate voluntary intoxication, knowledge, and purpose, why would it not write a statute that plainly says so, instead of doing so in a roundabout manner that would affect, in dramatically different ways, those whose minds, deeds, and consequences seem identical? I would reserve the question of whether or not such a hypothetical statute might exceed constitutional limits. Cf. McMillan v. Pennsylvania, 477 U. S. 79, 85-86 (1986); Patterson v. New York, 432 U. S. 197, 210 (1977); Mullaney v. Wilbur, 421 U. S. 684, 698-699 (1975).
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