Supreme Court Halts Death Penalty: Cruel and Unusual
The Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia on June 29, 1972, effectively striking down all existing death penalty statutes across the United States. The 5-4 decision produced nine separate opinions, one from each justice, with no majority opinion. The prevailing view was that the death penalty was applied in an arbitrary and racially discriminatory manner, making it "cruel and unusual punishment" under the Eighth Amendment. Over 600 death row inmates had their sentences commuted to life imprisonment overnight. No executions occurred in the US between 1972 and 1977. States responded by rewriting their death penalty laws with specific sentencing guidelines, which the Court approved in Gregg v. Georgia (1976). Gary Gilmore became the first person executed under the new statutes in January 1977.
June 29, 1972
54 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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