Furman v. Georgia
| 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
|
| Prior history | Certiorari granted (403 U.S. 952) |
| Subsequent history | 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 | |
Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972) was a criminal case in which the United States Supreme Court struck down all death penalty schemes in the United States in 5-4 decision, with each member of the majority writing a separate opinion. Following Furman, to reinstate the death penalty, States had to at least remove arbitrary and discriminatory effects, to possibly satisfy the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The decision ruled on the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. This case led to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment throughout the United States, which came to an end when Gregg v. Georgia was decided in 1976.
The Supreme Court consolidated Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas with the Furman decision, and thus also invalidated the death penalty for rape (which 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, thus the Aikens case was dismissed as moot since all death sentences in California were reduced.
In the Furman v. Georgia case, the resident awoke in the middle of the night to find William Henry Furman committing burglary in his house. At trial, in an unsworn statement allowed under Georgia criminal procedure, Furman said that while trying to escape, he tripped and the weapon he was carrying fired accidentally, killing the victim. This contradicted his prior statement to police that he had turned and blindly fired a shot while fleeing. In either event, because the shooting occurred during the commission of a felony, Furman would have been guilty of murder and eligible for the death penalty under then-extant state law, according to the felony murder rule. Furman was tried for murder and was found guilty based largely on his own statement. Although he was sentenced to death, the punishment was never carried out.
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