| Furman v. Georgia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Argued January 17, 1972 Decided June 29, 1972 | |
| Full case name | William Henry Furman v. State of Georgia |
| Citations | 408 U.S. 238 (more) 92 S. Ct. 2726; 33 L. Ed. 2d 346; 1972 U.S. LEXIS 169 |
| Case history | |
| Prior | Cert. granted, 403 U.S. 952. |
| Subsequent | Rehearing denied, 409 U.S. 902. |
| Holding | |
| The arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. | |
| Court membership | |
| |
| Case opinions | |
| Per curiam | |
| Concurrence | Douglas |
| Concurrence | Brennan |
| Concurrence | Stewart |
| Concurrence | White |
| Concurrence | Marshall |
| Dissent | Burger, joined by Blackmun, Powell, Rehnquist |
| Dissent | Blackmun |
| Dissent | Powell, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Rehnquist |
| Dissent | Rehnquist, joined by Burger, Blackmun, Powell |
| Laws applied | |
| U.S. Const. amends. VIII, XIV | |
Abrogated by | |
| Gregg v. Georgia (1976) | |
Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972), was a landmark criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court decided that arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments, and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. It was a per curiam decision. Five justices each wrote separately in support of the decision.[1]: 467–68 Although the justices did not rule that the death penalty was unconstitutional, the Furman decision invalidated the death sentences of nearly 700 people. The decision mandated a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. This case resulted in a de facto moratorium of capital punishment throughout the United States. Dozens of states rewrote their death penalty laws, most of which were upheld in the 1976 case Gregg v. Georgia.[2]
The Supreme Court consolidated the cases Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas with the Furman decision, thereby invalidating the death penalty for rape; this ruling was confirmed post-Gregg in Coker v. Georgia. The Court had also intended to include the case of Aikens v. California, but between the time Aikens had been heard in oral argument and a decision was to be issued, the Supreme Court of California decided in California v. Anderson that the death penalty violated the state constitution; Aikens was therefore dismissed as moot, since this decision reduced all death sentences in California to life imprisonment.
- ^ Kaplan, John; Weisberg, Robert; Binder, Guyora (2012). Criminal Law – Cases and Materials (7th ed.). Wolters Kluwer Law & Business. ISBN 978-1-4548-0698-1.
- ^ Bellware, Kim (July 6, 2022). "Death penalty's 50-year rise and fall since Supreme Court struck it down". The Washington Post.