Case Name: Furman v. Georgia
Year: Argued 1972 ; Decided 1972
Result: 5-4 in favor of Furman
Related Constitutional Issue/ Amendment: 8th Amendment dealing with cruel and unusual punishment and the death penalty
Civil Rights or Civil Liberties: Civil Rights
Significance/ Precedent: The court held that the death penalty within this case was a cruel and unusual punishment and unconstitutional. The Court's decision forced states and the national legislature to rethink their statutes for capital offenses to assure that the death penalty would not be administered in a capricious or discriminatory manner.
Quote from Majority Opinion: "The penalty of death differs from all other forms of criminal punishment, not in degree but in kind. It is unique in its rejection of rehabilitation of the convict as a basic purpose of criminal justice. And it is unique, finally, in its absolute renunciation of all that is embodied in our concept of humanity."
6-Word Summary: Accidental murder case, death penalties unconstitutional
Year: Argued 1972 ; Decided 1972
Result: 5-4 in favor of Furman
Related Constitutional Issue/ Amendment: 8th Amendment dealing with cruel and unusual punishment and the death penalty
Civil Rights or Civil Liberties: Civil Rights
Significance/ Precedent: The court held that the death penalty within this case was a cruel and unusual punishment and unconstitutional. The Court's decision forced states and the national legislature to rethink their statutes for capital offenses to assure that the death penalty would not be administered in a capricious or discriminatory manner.
Quote from Majority Opinion: "The penalty of death differs from all other forms of criminal punishment, not in degree but in kind. It is unique in its rejection of rehabilitation of the convict as a basic purpose of criminal justice. And it is unique, finally, in its absolute renunciation of all that is embodied in our concept of humanity."
6-Word Summary: Accidental murder case, death penalties unconstitutional