Furman Vs Gregg

Comparing these two cases, the legal system did not really work fairly to show justice because if in accordance with the absolute interpretation of the 8th Amendment and the 14th Amendment, Gregg will never be sentence to death; this not only unfair to him but also disrespects for the authority of the legal system. Let us finally look at the case of “Callins v. Collins” in 1994, in this case, even though the convict Callins was put to death by lethal injection, there was a justice stood up to struggle on save Callins’ life, and his name was Harry Andrew Blackmun, who had voted in “Gregg v. Georgia” to restore the death penalty. Blackmun claimed that he had no longer supported the death penalty because he did not believe that the capital sentencing procedures were still working, and restoring the death penalty was a big

The case began with Warren McCleskey, an African-American man who was sentenced to death in 1978 for killing a white police officer during the robbery of a Georgia furniture store.  McCleskey appealed his conviction and sentence, relying on the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment’s guarantee of Equal Protection to argue that the death penalty in Georgia was administered in a racially discriminatory -- and therefore unconstitutional--manner.

In 1971 one of the key cases in United Sates History and also the state of Georgia was Furman v. Georgia. Furman was an African American male that broke in to a home to steal another citizens items. During the robbery the victim woke up and scared Furman. While Furman was fleeing the seen the owner gave him chase, and Furman accidentally drop his handgun and it went off killing the victim. When Furman was arrested he was told that if found guilty, he could be facing the death penalty. Furman appealed the execution to the Supreme Court, and argued that under the 14th amendment he would not be allowed pursuit of happiness, and liberty the American way. The Supreme Court heard his case and overturned the

In 1976, the United States Supreme Court, in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), Jurek v. Texas, 428 U.S. 262 (1976), and Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242 (1976) held that the discretion to impose the death sentence for specific crimes was to be bi-furcated into two separate trials. The first to determine guilt or innocence; the second to determine the aggravating and mitigating factors. The State of Oceana adopted the findings of the U.S. Supreme Court in People v. Wende, 600 P. 2d 1071 (Cal: Supreme Court 1979) In

The moral and ethical debate on the sentencing and enforcement of capital punishment has long baffled the citizens and governing powers of the United States. Throughout time, the interpretation of the U.S. Constitution, and the vast majority beliefs of Americans, have been in a constant state of perplexity. Before the 1960s, the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution were interpreted as permitting the death penalty. However, in the early 1960s, it was suggested that the death penalty was a "cruel and unusual" punishment and therefore unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendment. Many argue that capital punishment is an absolute necessity, in order to deter crime, and to ‘make things right’ following a heinous crime of murder. Despite the belief that capital punishment may seem to be the only tangible, permanent solution to ending future capital offenses, the United States should remove this cruel and unnecessary form of punishment from our current judicial systems.

Furman v. Georgia proved that the way the death penalty was administered was unconstitutional. William Furman was apprehended while he was found robbing a sleeping individual’s home. During the trial Furman claimed he had tripped and his weapon had accidentally discharged and struck the victim. However, the statement he had given the police was

But then, several days later one of the psychiatrists revised their medical opinion. Because he was not insane, the case would go on. The state of Georgia charged him with murder and issued the death penalty. This was because Georgia state law stated that any form of murder issued with a felony was punishable by death. Furman’s attorneys knew that the murder had been accidental and that Furman was genuinely sorry for the action he had caused, so they decide there was only one other path out: The Supreme Court.

The Court did, however, state that the mandatory use of the death penalty would be prohibited under the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment. The defendant in this case, Gregg, had been convicted on two counts of armed robbery and two counts of murder. The jury was instructed by the trial judge, who was following Georgia state law, to return with either a decision of life imprisonment or the death penalty. Justice Byron stated in his opinion that Gregg had failed in his burden of showing that the Georgia Supreme Court had not done all it could to prevent discriminatory practices in the forming of his sentence. This decision became the first time the Court stated that "punishment of death does not invariably violate the Constitution." (Bernstein 21)      The punishment also cannot be “grossly out of proportion to the severity of the crime charged, nor can it violate the convicted individual’s dignity.

In the United States, 36 states participate in capital punishment in one or more of the five different forms, including lethal injection, electrocution, gas chambers, firing squad, and hanging (“Description of Execution”). After being banned in 1972, several states sought to bring back capital punishment by providing sentence guidelines for both jury and judges when deciding the fit case in which to impose death (“Introduction to the Death Penalty”). These guidelines proved the punishment was constitutional under the Eight Amendment, proving it wasn’t “cruel and unusual” punishment under the correct circumstances. Three procedural reforms were approved by the case Gregg vs. Georgia, including bifurcated trials (separating guilt and penalty phases of trial), automatic appellate reviews of court decisions, and proportionality review to help eliminate sentencing disparities (“Introduction to the Death Penalty”). Ever since these changes in 1976, the death penalty

1976 - Death penalty statutes are upheld generally by the Court's decision in Gregg v. Georgia.

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

Troy Gregg was charged with committing armed robbery and murder. The jury found him guilty of both and sentenced him to death. Gregg challenged his remaining death sentence for murder, appealing that his capital sentence was a cruel and unusual punishment that violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. Court's earlier ruling in Furman v. Georgia (1972) which struck down state systems that afforded juries sweeping discretion in imposing the death penalty would spell the end of capital punishment in the United States. Many states, including Georgia, however, responded to the Furman ruling by passing new death penalty laws. The Georgia General Assembly, however,

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

Troy Davis, a black man who was suspected as the killer of a white off-duty police officer, was executed in 2011 with insufficient evidence in the state of Georgia (Bedau). There was no physical evidence or weapon presented in the prosecution and so they had to base their judgement all from eyewitness (Bedau). His execution raised an “international outcry” due to seven out of nine eyewitnesses contradicted their trial testimony and many of them confessed that they felt pressured or threatened by the police at the time (Bedau). Troy Davis have come close to execution three times previous to his death because of the doubts that linger of his innocence (Bedau). However, after passage of a federal law in 1996, it became significantly harder for petitioners to get a hearing from judges because they have limited the amount of times they can appeal death sentence (Bedau). When Troy Davis did get a hearing, the judge required Troy to have a “proof of innocence” – an impossibly high standard according to American Civil Liberties Union and so Troy was not able to defend himself (Bedau). Even with the doubts that was present in this case, the Georgia Board of Pardons persists on executing Troy Davis (Bedau). A modern country in the 21st century like America has lots of resources to almost everything, but we still use a law system as old as time itself. Although the death penalty has been necessary in the past, it is no longer justified in the 21st century.

“In a monumental 1972 decision by the US Supreme Court, all but a few death penalty statutes in the United States were declared unconstitutional” (Radelet & Borg, 2000,