Furman

Dan Butler Gregg v. Georgia (1976) This supreme court case was actually a consolidation of 5 death penalty cases on the state level all being appealed to the Supreme Court ( Troy Leon Gregg v. State of Georgia; Charles William Proffitt v. State of Florida; Jerry Lane Jurek v. State of Texas; James Tyrone Woodson, et al. v. State of North Carolina; Roberts, et al. v. Louisiana). All 5 defendants were sentenced to death by a jury trial. At the time state legislatures had amended their penal codes to comply with the court case of // Furman v. Georgia //, which was a 1972 SCOTUS case in which the court articulated that the arbitrary and biased way the death penalty was administered made it unconstitutional. The Furman decision had basically placed a nationwide de facto moratorium on the death penalty.

The constitutional issue was whether or not the imposition of the death penalty was constitutional in any and all circumstances as it may violate the 8th amendment as being cruel and unusual punishment. The defendants were basically asking the court to expand upon the Furman ruling and declare that the death penalty was unconstitutional once and for all.

The court ruled that the death penalty was constitutional in circumstances where the due process is upheld and the jury's decision is subject to review. Court ruled that mandatory death penalties for certain capital offenses were unconstitutional. William Brennan and Thurgood Marshall dissented from the majority.

This ruling as stated ended the moratorium on the death penalty. Similar cases that followed this decision involving the death penalty include Coker v. Georgia and Kennedy v. Louisiana. In both cases the court articulated that rape could not be punishable by death. However, the ruling in Gregg lead to the execution of hundreds of criminals, who would not have face the death penalty if the court had ruled the other way.

Furman v. Georgia 1972 Rachel Herr

Furman was robbing a house and was caught by one of the family members. When he went to escape he fell and his gun went off killing a member of the family. He was then sentenced to death for murder, however his case brought up the question similar to five other cases at that time.

The constitutional issue was whether the death penalty should be considered cruel and unusual punishment, as it may violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment.

The Supreme Court ruled 5 to 4 that the imposition of the death penalty towards Furman constituted cruel and unusual punishment and violated the constitution. The judges ruled that the death penalty was a controversial subject as there were previous cases that indicated racial bias not necessarily a capital offense. From this case, the judges forced the states and national legislature to rethink the death penalty in order to assure that it would not be administered in a discriminatory manner.

Nina Simic Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Gregg was found guilty on charges of armed robbery and murder (although he recalled that while leaving the robbery he fell and that caused his gun to fire and kill an individual. A jury imposed the death sentence on the defendant as a result. The problem was that the 8th and 14 Amendments of the US Constitution were violated, but capital punishment does not violate these provided that it is taken care of in a state that has carefully addressed the issue and is certain that the defendant is guilty.

The court then later ruled that the death penalty was in fact considered cruel and unusual punishment and that it indeed violated the constitution, and because of this case the death penalty was looked over and reconsidered for future purposes.

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

While burglarizing a private residence, Furman was discovered by a resident of the private residence. While fleeing hastily, Furman clumsily tripped and fell to the ground, discharging his weapon and killing the resident. Furman was then guilty of murder and received a death sentence.

When considering the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, does the death sentence and the actual following through of the death sentence fall under the domain of cruel and unusual punishment, thus violating the aforementioned amendments?

The Court's Decision was 5 votes for Furman and 4 votes against Furman. By the per curiam opinion of the Court, this was, indeed, cruel and unusual punishment and this did, indeed, violate the Constitution. Only two justices - Justices Marshall and Brennan - believed that under all circumstances the death penalty was unconstitutional. Also in the two hundred-plus pages of dissents and concurrences, some justices took note of the past propensity of justices to impose the death penalty upon blacks. In making this landmark decision, the Court issued a challenge to the national legislature and states: to guard against the frivolous/irresponsible misuse of the death penalty, reconsider your laws and statutes regarding the death penalty.

From the Desk of Graham Colton