Furman V. Georgia

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Furman V. Georgia
By Cadet Andrew
Argued January 17, 1972DecidedJune 29, 1972
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THE CASE

• Furman was burglarizing a private home when a
  family member discovered him. He attempted to
  flee, and in doing so tripped and fell. The gun
  that he was carrying went off and killed a
  resident of the home. He was convicted of murder
  and sentenced to death (Two other death penalty
  cases were decided along with Furman Jackson v.
  Georgia and Branch v. Texas. These cases concern
  the constitutionality of the death sentence for
  rape and murder convictions, respectively).

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QUESTION?

• Does the imposition and carrying out of the death
  penalty in these cases constitute cruel and
  unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and
  Fourteenth Amendments?

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• Yes. The Court's one-page per curium opinion held
  that the imposition of the death penalty in these
  cases constituted cruel and unusual punishment
  and violated the Constitution. In over two
  hundred pages of concurrence and dissents, the
  justices articulated their views on this
  controversial subject. Only Justices Brennan and
  Marshall believed the death penalty to be
  unconstitutional in all instances. Other
  concurrences focused on the arbitrary nature with
  which death sentences have been imposed, often
  indicating a racial bias against black
  defendants. The Court's decision forced states
  and the national legislature to rethink their
  statutes for capital offenses to assure that the
  death penalty would not be administered in a
  capricious or discriminatory manner.

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• In the following four years, 37 states enacted
  new death penalty laws aimed at overcoming
  Stewart's objections to the lack of standards to
  guide the discretion of juries and judges in
  imposing capital sentences. The new laws were in
  large part upheld in a series of decisions in
  1976, led by Gregg v. Georgia.

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THE END!