...or unusual? In 1971 William Furman appealed the ruling he received when he accidently killed someone while committing a crime. Furman, a black male, while robbing a house was caught by someone in the house. When Furman tried to leave he tripped and the loaded firearm he was carrying went off killing one individual in the house. Furman went to trial and was found guilty of murder and sentenced to the death penalty. Furman appealed and took the ruling to the Supreme Court. Furman’s case was combined with two other black males when it went to the Supreme Court. The other two black males were given the death penalty for being found guilty of rape. At the time, the death penalty was sentenced more heavily on black individuals rather than whites. This lead to the belief that blacks were being treated unfairly. The decision was given five votes to overrule the previous ruling, with four votes that were aimed to keep the previous ruling. The five judges that were for overturning the decision also were divided on why they were against it. Two of the five stated that the death penalty in itself was cruel and unusual. The ruling from Furman V. Georgia set a precedent for how administrating the death penalty could take place. Even though the Supreme Court ruled against the death penalty in certain cases many states tried to re-write their death penalty laws to bypass the court’s ruling. In 2008, a similar case was presented to the Supreme Court. Kennedy v. Louisiana was a case in which...
Words: 791 - Pages: 4
...Georgia 1972 case. A prime example of why the eighth amendment needs to be followed is the story of William Furman a 22 year old African American man sentenced to death for murder.The court attempted to justify this sentence by claiming Furman killed the man in the house, he was really hit accidentally by a stray bullet after Furman dropped the gun. The weapon discharged on its own. Furman's attorneys argued he was receiving the death penalty because he was a man of color (Robinson), and that the entire case violated the eighth and the equal protection clause fourteenth amendment (Furman). The Eighth amendment should have saved his life, but this was clearly a case of racial discrimination. Fortunately the sentence was never carried...
Words: 587 - Pages: 3
...where it is not. The death penalty is often referred to as capital punishment as well because it can only be used as a conviction to capital offenses that are seen as extreme cases. Examples of this include espionage, treason, death resulting from aircraft hijacking, and various forms of murder; such as murder committed during drug-related drive by shootings, murder during a kidnapping, murder for hire, and genocide. Death penalty was seen as a constitutional punishment in the case Furman v. Georgia that took place in 1972. In this case a man named Troy Gregg had been found guilty of murder and armed robbery and sentenced to death. He then asked the court to go further into the case and rule the death penalty itself unconstitutional. The case then got carried to the supreme court in which they ruled that the death penalty does not violate any part of the constitution, including the 8th amendment. The eighth amendment bans cruel and unusual punishment under the constitution. In the Furman v. Georgia case it stated that the death penalty does not violate the constitution because under the eighth amendment it shapes how certain procedural aspects regarding when a jury may use the death penalty and how it must be carried out. In modern days the death penalty is carried out by lethal injection unless the inmates choose an alternative method....
Words: 1001 - Pages: 5
...In 1972 the Supreme Court ruled capital punishment as unconstitutional on the basis of “cruel and unusual punishment” (Eighth Amendment) in the Furman v. Georgia case. The court argued that the death penalty was being used in a discriminatory way, which is only one of the many problems concerning capital punishment. Other factors working against the death penalty is the argument of deterrence, costs, and sentencing errors. Shortly after the Furman v. Georgia trial, another case reinstated the death penalty, Gregg v. Georgia (1976). Some people who approve of capital punishment argue against the “cruel and unusual” punishment of those against the death penalty by using a three tests designed to determine if the punishment legally stays within...
Words: 1423 - Pages: 6
...death for being a spy. Other colonies began to pass laws specifying crimes that would constitute the death penalty. As years passed and colonies became states, the death penalty was still being used. However in 1972, there was a four year suspension of the death penalty. In Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty as a violation of the Constitution’s Eighth Amendment which opposes to cruel and unusual punishment. In this Supreme Court case, a resident woke up while William Furman was committing a robbery. William Furman tried to escape but he stumbled and the gun he was carrying mistakenly went off killing the resident in the home. At this point, William Furman was found guilty of robbery and murder. As mentioned above, the court concluded the death penalty itself was cruel and unusual punishment...
Words: 576 - Pages: 3
...convictions based on confused witnesses, mistakes by lawyers and inaccurate forensics, while the person actually responsible for the crime was still free. Cases involving DNA evidence in court, such as Ray Krone's case, can be denied access even if life and death are on the ropes. Found guilty, Krone was sentenced to death for rape and murder in Arizona, even though DNA found on the victim did not correlate with his. Arizona argued that no submission of DNA evidence could interfere with the jury decision. A decade later, without a court order, a crime lab worker identified the person who actually committed the crime through DNA evidence, and Ray Krone was luckily exonerated before his death. Likewise in 2011, Troy Davis was convicted in Georgia for murdering police officer Mark Allen MacPhail. Physical evidence did not convict him, but testimonies from nine witnesses strongly tied him to the case. After Davis’s execution, seven witnesses changed their testimonies, two remained in what they believed...
Words: 2123 - Pages: 9
...“Death Penalty” Furman was a poor black man living in Georgia when he broke into William Joseph Micke, Jr’s house, Mr. Micke went downstairs to investigate and saw William Furman in his house with a gun. Furman began to flee the house but tripped in the process and fired the gun accidently shooting Mr. Micke in the chest and killing him instantly. Furman was later found by the police still carrying the gun and arrested for murder. This case is known as Furman v. Georgia and was taken to the Supreme Court on the fact that the death penalty in Georgia violated the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. This is a landmark case because “The significance of Furman v. Georgia is that this case was the first case that was ruled violating the Eighth amendment and that it halted every man on death row in the United States” (study). But before the case reached the Supreme Court the case went on trial September 20, 1968 where Furman pleaded mentally ill and insane, the court rejected his plea and found him guilty of murder. Then, Furman appealed his conviction and sentence, based on the death penalty in Georgia violating the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution . The Eighth Amendment says the federal government may not use "cruel and unusual punishments” (Henson). The case was later tried in the Supreme Court January 17, 1972. The justices who won majority and reversed the case were William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, Potter...
Words: 3854 - Pages: 16
... In 1972, in Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court declared all existing death penalty statutes at the time unconstitutional as a violation of the Eighth Amendment prohibiting "cruel and unusual punishment". There was no majority opinion, and each of the five majority members wrote a separate opinion. While three of them based their decision on the arbitrary and discriminatory application of the death penalty in the U.S., Justices Brennan and Marshall based their opinions on the per-se unconstitutionality of capital punishment. Justice Brennan argued that although human dignity is not explicitly guaranteed by the United States Constitution, it is the fundamental concept underlying the Eighth Amendment. In his opinion: "The State, even as it punishes, must treat its members with respect for their intrinsic worth as human beings. A punishment is "cruel and unusual, therefore, "if it does not comport with human dignity". He declared that the severity of capital punishment is degrading to the dignity of a man, and since even the vilest criminals share an inherent dignity, the punishment is unconstitutional. Though in Brennan words human dignity functions as a justification for the Eight Amendment, they seem to illustrate the psychological approach to the meaning of human dignity. In 1976, the nationwide ban that was imposed on the capital punishment was over turned in Gregg v. Georgia. Gregg was convicted of murder and was sentenced to death in Georgia. He appealed to...
Words: 2734 - Pages: 11
...DEATH PENALTY ARLINCY ERSKINE WESTWOOD COLLEGE REFERENCES References (2010). Retrieved from www.bsos.umd.edu. (2013). Retrieved from www.citelighter.com. Bardes, S. S. (2013-2014). American Government and Politics Today. Boston: Cengage Learning. www.studentsnewsdaily.com. (2013). Retrieved from www.studentsnewsdaily.com. DEATH PENALTY Thesis As you further read into this paper you will understand the reason and cause for the death penalty in the United States. You will be educated how many states in the United States use the death penalty as a form of punishment and also what form of it is used. There are many methods of death some states opposed while others see it as “an eye for an eye”. Capital Punishment is defined as the practice of executing an individual as punishment for a specific crime. This is known as a state’s form of committing murder. Capital punishment comes from the Latin word meaning for the head. Some oppose it (those we term Conservative) and those who support it (these we term Liberal). Capital Punishment can range from simple punishments of cutting ones’ hand off for stealing to being hung, set in front of a firing squad, using lethal injection (a commonly used form), to being gassed, or the electric chair (a more common form). Some countries even use poisoning, starving, and burning (which some deem as unconstitutional). So because a state does it, is it legal? Or morally right? Yes because it is done...
Words: 1088 - Pages: 5
...waiting on death row for days, months, or years whenever it is about time for execution. I am going for supporting the capital punishment. The reason why is because it takes tax money from us if there are more prisoners in prisons. When capital punishment is okay. My moral stance and why I choose it. Somewhere in the bible says that taking someone’s life is another persons life. Economics and statistics of penalty verses keeping them in prison. Penalty popular in the United States. Thirty- seven states retained by Federal government. Also popular in Iran, China, and Vietnam. 65-75 percent of American’s continually favor it. Furman vs. Georgia (1972) application was unconstitutional. Gregg v. Georgia (1976) bifurcated system constitutional. Woodson v. North Carolina (1976)- mandatory death sentences unconstitutional. Coker v. Georgia (1976)- death penalty for rape “ grossly disappropriate “this violates...
Words: 577 - Pages: 3
...victims die at the hands of heartless murderers. In recent years, the crime rate, more particular violent crimes, in America has been on the rise. As a result, prisons in our country are overcrowded. Although, the death penalty is being handed down by the courts, the number of death penalties carried out occurs far less than they should. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, the number of executions since 1976 is just 1352 with the years 1999 and 2000 being the highest in number of executions (DPIC). In the book Deterrence and the Death Penalty, it brings attention to more of the debate of the death penalty: In 1976 the Supreme Court decision Gregg v. Georgia (428 U.S. 153) ended the 4-year moratorium on executions that had resulted from its 1972 decision in Furman v. Georgia (408 U.S. 238). In Furman the Court had ruled that the death penalty, as then administered in the United States, constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution. Then, in Gregg, it had ruled that the death penalty is not, in all circumstances, cruel and unusual punishment, thereby opening the way for states to revise their capital punishment statutes to conform to the requirements of Gregg. (Nagin, Daniel, and John Pepper, Summary Page 1) Some say that humans are just beings and therefore aloud to make mistakes and that...
Words: 931 - Pages: 4
...hesitation, executions are well though-out definitive punishment for any offense or felony, because there is no revoke from bereavement. The rational option for capital punishment is living in jail without even parole; a number of states still use capital punishment. The reason behind this is the dispute whether capital punishment is right and permissible is still widely unclear (Phil for Humanity, 2006). Nowadays, one of the most discussed concerns in the Criminal Justice System is none other than capital punishment or otherwise called the death penalty. Capital punishment was legal until 1972, when the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia stating that it violated the Eight and Fourteen Amendment citing cruel and unusual punishment. However, in 1976, the Supreme Court reversed itself with Gregg v. Georgia and reinstated the death penalty, but not all states have the death penalty (Prodeath.com. 2001). There are always two sides of the coin and so is the case with Capital Punishment. There are people who favor it and there are people who are against it. The first stance. Many people who are against Capital punishment feel that the death penalty is the definitive defiance of civil rights (White, 2009). It is the conscious and unemotional assassination of a human being by the authorities concerned in the name of righteousness. Capital Punishment violates liberty and life. It is eventual brutal, ruthless and mortifying castigation. There can never...
Words: 696 - Pages: 3
...Capital Punishment does not violate the Eight Amendment BCOM/275 Oliver Ellsworth drafted the Crimes Act of 1790 and was passed by congress on April 30, 1790. When the First Congress enacted the Crimes Act in 1790, it stipulated only 17 federal crimes will be taken to trial. (Meese III, 2010). Defendants that were found guilty of murder and prison break were put to death. Oliver Ellsworth was appointed Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court in 1796. “In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court found that the death penalty, which was applied capriciously and on a racially discriminatory basis, violated the Eighth Amendment.” These death penalties are cruel and unusual. (Head, n.d.). U.S. Supreme Court voted upholding the death penalty in Gregg v. Georgia in 1976 by 7-2. In regards to the vote, there would be some changes to the Crimes Act of 1790 that would not allow defendants eligible for the death penalty. One of the changes is the defendants I.Q. When the defendant’s has an I.Q. below 70, the defendant would be labeled mentally retarded and would not be eligible for the death penalty. When the defendant is under the age of 18 at the time of the crime, the defendant would not be eligible for the death penalty. President Clinton signed the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996 in the aftermath of the World Trade Center and the Oklahoma City bombings, this Act allowed the defendant found guilty would be subject to the death penalty...
Words: 530 - Pages: 3
...century B.C. This was under the rule of King Hammaurabi of Babylon ruled, who codified the death penalty for twenty-five different types of crimes. Within the US, there are 32 states who employ death penalty, and only 18 who don’t. Death penalty has been an ordinary way to deal with extreme criminals in order to end their crimes, for a longer time. Capital punishment has for long been a component of the government. In American history, there have been numerous methods of capital punishment. Everything from electrocution, hanging, firing squad to beheading, and even gas chambers. Capital punishment has always been a brutal and unnatural thing. Luckily, lethal injection is what most states use today. They have done since post-Gregg (Gregg v. Georgia), but electrocution, gas chambers and hanging are still practiced as well. One large motive for supporting capital punishment is economy. It is much cheaper to have someone executed than having him or her imprisoned. This is, though, extraordinarily inhuman. What about the family and friends of the executed? This is where the ethical aspect begins to play a role. The government needs to think about whether this should be accepted as being ethically correct. Because of the ethical aspects, capital punishment is one of the few massively discussed subjects in American politics. In the southern states, especially in Texas, death penalty has been the most evident. 522 people – 6 of them women – have been executed in Texas. This makes...
Words: 759 - Pages: 4
...Capital Punishment Capital punishment, also referred to as the death penalty, is not the best financial option available today. The death penalty has been a constant source of debate for as long as it has been imposed. Most of the debates focus on constitutionality, morality, religion, and racism. Focusing on the financial burden on carrying out the death penalty can help to eliminate all of the other debates. In the United States of America 36 states and the federal government still use the death penalty. Those people that oppose the death penalty say that it violates the "cruel and unusual punishment" provision of the Eighth Amendment. The Supreme Court has repeatedly agreed and continues to rule that the death penalty is constitutional only if applied in a particular way. That ruling makes sure that congress and state legislatures are always at work to enact new capital punishment laws to try to ensure that the executions are not "cruel and unusual". Due to these laws all convicted prisoners sentenced to the death penalty undergo more expensive trials and appeals than someone sentenced to life without parole. The morality of killing a person is subjective for each individual. A person’s upbringing, education, beliefs, and religion all affect their moral beliefs. Therefore different people interpret what is moral differently. Also, throughout the life of an individual, their beliefs and morality can and most likely will change. Considering these facts and...
Words: 450 - Pages: 2
