Death Penalty: The Furman V. Georgia Case

The death penalty sometimes also known as capital punishment or execution, is the sentence of death brought on by courts as punishment for a serious crime people who receive the death penalty typically are convicted of murder and similar capital crimes like aggravated murder or felony murder (What is the death penalty). In Canada, there is no death penalty, where in America there is one. The most common form of the death penalty is by lethal injection which is done in 33 states (Methods of execution).

Capital punishment is a legal authorization to kill someone for a crime they have committed. The death penalty has been the highest form of criminal punishment in the American judicial system since the 13 colonies. It has taken the form of hanging, stoning, drowning, burning, beheading, gassing, electrocution, and injection. The taking of a man 's life as penance for criminal behavior is wrong. The moral injustice of murder, the cruelty of execution, and the death of innocent men are all concerns that make the death penalty wrong. Our society has taught children that violence is not the answer and yet our highest form of punishment is executing someone which does not solve anything, nor does it fix a problem. The United States should abolish the death penalty due to execution of innocent people, excessive cost and it is against the US constitution.

In David M. Oshinsky’s book, Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America, he discussed the case of Furman v. Georgia. He explores the controversy that capital punishment holds in the United States of America. The death penalty has been in practice for many centuries. For example, “In Massachusetts, where religion had played a key role in settlement, crimes like blasphemy, witchcraft, sodomy, adultery, and incest became capital offenses, through juries sometimes hesitated to convict” (Oshinsky, 2010). For the punishment of death these offenses do not fit the crime. However, capital punishment at this time was rarely criticized. The death penalty demanded many executions including public ones. Many of these were hangings and were public events. After the American Revolution the death penalty began to be questioned. For example, Benjamin Rush stated, “Capital punishments are the offspring of monarchial governments. Kings believe that they possess their crowns by a divine right. They assume the divine power of taking away human life” (Oshinsky, 2010). By the 1840’s there were organized groups opposing the death penalty such as the Society for the Abolition of Capital Punishment. Within the coming years, the support for capital punishment fluctuated. Throughout the book, Oshinsky explores the many cases leading up to the Furman v. Georgia decision.

Furman v. Georgia was a murder was committed at August 11, 1967. Mr. William Henry Furman was a poor man that dropped out of school at the sixth grade. He was a 26 year old man without a job living on the streets with the intent of commenting theft. The suspect came into the home of and William Micke in Savanah, Georgia, and started to break everything looking for valuables to steal. While rummaging through the house William Micke surprised Furman and he took off running. While attempting to escape the house he accidently (according to him) dropped the gun and killed the unknown house owner.

Death penalty, or also known as capital punishment, today is still used. Many oppose many support it. In the case Furman v. Georgia, the death penalty was abolished. But not fully, because it is still used today. In 1991 more than 2,600 people awaited execution but only fourteen were executed. Capital punishment should be legal, and should be used more often.

Some of the biggest opposers to capital punishment claim that it is unconstitutional and that is doesn’t comply with the “nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” part of the 8th amendment. The fact that the United States is the only G7 nation that still practices capital punishment, that would fall under the “unusual” section of the 8th amendment. Also, the words of the 14th amendment state that “nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.”, in the court case Furman v. Georgia this was shown not to be the case. Furman was sentenced to the capital punishment, but he appealed it. Anthony G. Amsterdam who was assisting with the appeal claimed that Georgia’s death penalty violated the constitution by

The death penalty continues to a topic that is largely debated in the United States, but it was never more unpopular than in the 1970s when it actually came to a halt. A moratorium is a temporary prohibition brought about when “the Supreme Court issued its opinion on Furman v. Georgia which struck down the death penalty nationally.” The moratorium lasted from 1972-1976 and was brought back during the time when Richard Nixon initiated the war on crime and condemned the decision on the Furman, “These efforts to reinstate the death penalty succeeded when, only four years after Furman, opened the door again on executions in the U.S. with its ruling on Gregg v. Georgia.” After the Gregg decision, the Supreme Court gave each state the choice to implement

The Furman v. Georgia case has set a precedent on how the courts deal with the disputable issue that is capital punishment because it was the first time the Supreme Court addressed the problem. Both racism and the morality of the death penalty have been relatively controversial issues in the United States for several years. The Furman v. Georgia case conjoined both matters. The case declared that if capital punishment were to be used, it was going to be used for all the right reasons, not due to any prejudices or discrimination by reason of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Additionally, the case placed a moratorium on the death penalty because it was argued that the application of Furman’s sentencing would be an example of “cruel and unusual

The death penalty or capital punishment has been part of our humanity for years and years. Existed since ancient times, according to people a person who has committed an atrocious act, was sentence to death penalty or capital punishment. The death penalty begins back in the 18th century B.C. in the code of king Hammaurabi of Baylon; who was accused of committing 25 crimes. In years past, the punishments where more crucial then today, the execution procedures had no boundaries, forms of killing where endless. Drowning, whacking, “damnatio ad Bestia” which was death cause by a wild animal, dismemberment: dividing the body into quarter-usually with an ax, throwing then off a high place, impalement: one of the most

The death penalty is the sentence of execution for murder and other capital crimes. Which are punishable by death? The death penalty is used only in 38 states (www.deathpenalty.org). The state of California is home to the nation's

As society has evolved, the way the death penalty has been implemented has also evolved- sometimes against the words of our Constitution. One of the more influential cases that transformed how people view the death penalty was Furman v. Georgia. This case set up a guide for limited sentencing discretion; this meant that sentencing for the death penalty would become standardized. Essentially in extreme cases, every criminal death qualified would be sent to death row and eventually executed. After disputes after Furman, cases like Woodson v. North Carolina insisted on individualized discretion when discussing the death penalty. Those in favor of Woodson believed that character ad record of an individual must be accounted especially when discussing life or death (Woodson 238). In Walton v. Arizona, Justice Scalia and Justice Blackburn dispute over the rationality of limited discretion v individualized discretion. Although each presents his case differently, both agree about the tension between the Furman’s promotion for limited discretion and Woodson’s idea of individualized sentencing discretion. In accordance with the Constitution, both Furman v. Georgia and Woodson v. North Carolina violated the Eighth Amendment in their respective ways but the current system (in terms of capital punishment provides a loose balance that ensures both the uniqueness of human beings as well as limits arbitrariness.

Court declined to articulate any ftirther requirements.^* The cases described below demonstrate: (1) the Supreme Court's condemnation of a death penalty applied at least arbitrarily, if not discriminatorily,^' (2) its call for procedural protections to ensure against arbitrariness'" and racial discrimination," and (3) its rejection of a constitutional argument based on statistical evidence that current procedural protections are ineffective at guarding against arbitrariness and racial discrimination. '^ Accordingly, the following cases demonsfrate the need for states to develop mechanisms for addressing discrimination through legislation such as RJAs. 1. Furman v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia; The Court Requires Procedural Protections In Furman

The death penalty which is also known as capital punishment is the punishment of a crime by execution. (Washington Post 2008: e.data) Such extreme sentences are awarded for very serious crimes such as premeditated murder, multiple murders, repeated crimes, rape and murder and so on, where

Death Row is a place where prisoners wait to die, this is because they have been accused of severe crimes the is so terrible there is no going back. This was seen as a way to get rid of people, many question appeared about death row. People do not like to kill others as a solution, this was a religious belief, other reasons people don’t like death row was the way we were killing people.

Capital punishment has been around for many years as a way of executing criminals. Despite what most believe, capital punishment is not functional in the American society. Defenders of the death penalty often claim that the execution of criminals will teach others not to do bad, initially decreasing crime rates. Unfortunately, statistics prove that thought to be wrong. Capital punishment also has great flaws. For example, many innocent people have been put to death because of capital punishment. There also is no consistency. Two of the same crimes can be convicted in two different states and the consequences with be different for both offenders. The death penalty shows to be