| Coker v. Georgia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued March 28, 1977 Decided June 29, 1977 | |
| Full case name | Erlich Anthony Coker v. State of Georgia |
| Citations | 433 U.S. 584 (more) 97 S. Ct. 2861; 53 L. Ed. 2d 982; 1977 U.S. LEXIS 146 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | After he escaped from prison, the defendant raped an adult woman. He was convicted and sentenced to death, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Georgia, Coker v. State, 234 Ga. 555, 216 S.E.2d 782 (1975); cert. granted, 429 U.S. 815 (1976). |
| Holding | |
| The death penalty for the rape of an adult is grossly disproportionate and excessive punishment and so is forbidden by the Eighth Amendment, as cruel and unusual punishment. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Plurality | White, joined by Stewart, Blackmun, Stevens |
| Concurrence | Brennan |
| Concurrence | Marshall |
| Concur/dissent | Powell |
| Dissent | Burger, joined by Rehnquist |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV | |
Coker v. Georgia, 433 U.S. 584 (1977), held that the death penalty for rape of an adult was grossly disproportionate and excessive punishment, and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.[1]
The "evolving standards of decency" test has since been applied in other cases including Atkins v. Virginia (overturning Penry v. Lynaugh) Stanford v. Kentucky, and Roper v. Simmons.[2]
Because only a few states continued to have child rape statutes that authorized the death penalty, the Court applied the "evolving standards of decency" review in Kennedy v. Louisiana (2008) to expand Coker, ruling that the death penalty is unconstitutional for the rape of a child where there was no intention to kill the child.
