Furman V. Georgia

People have been debating on whether the death penalty is a good or bad thing. The Supreme Court has decided to go into moratorium because of the problems the death penalty had. Moratorium is a legal authorization to debtors to postpone payment. In my report I will discuss and show some examples (Gregg v. Georgia, and Furman v. Georgia) of why the death penalty went into a moratorium in the United States in the years 1972-1976.

If the Supreme Court ever decided that capital punishment was unconstitutional, as a staunch opponent of the death penalty I would applaud the decision. Of course, the logical next question would be in the absence of the death penalty what sentence should be reserved for people found guilty of the most heinous crimes. I believe that life without the possibility of parole is a reasonable replacement and should not be abolished in the United States. Based on past cases such as Furman v. Georgia, I would presume that if the Supreme Court rules that capital punishment is unconstitutional it would be on the basis of the eight amendment. Because LWOP does not require the inmate to be put to death, it is inherently more humane then the death penalty

During the past three decades capital punishment has been a very controversial issue in the United States. 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court decided in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty was unconstitutional because it was a form of "cruel and unusual punishment." However, this decision did not last long; in July 1975 the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment did not violate any parts of the Constitution. Executions as they had before 1972 resumed again. Since then 180 prisoners have been executed. The United States Supreme Court should abolish the death penalty because it is a form of "cruel and unusual punishment."

When it comes to the raging topic of the death penalty there will always be two sides, those who are anti- death penalty and those others who are pro- death penalty. Those who are anti- penalty argue that there are multifarious reasons why the death penalty should be abolished. According to CNN, the United States is one of the top six countries in the nation with most executions. Over the past 40 past years, executions in the U.S have increased drastically. The increase of the death penalty is due to lack of proper consideration for human morality and actual value of life. If we succumb to the notion of death being the right way to about dealing with criminals doesn’t that make us just as bad as them. Where’s the humanity in that.

Capital punishment throughout history has had many faces in our society. In the early twentieth century capital punishment was viewed as an integral part of the criminal justice system. In the United States alone approximately thirteen thousand people have been legally executed sine the colonial times (ACLU, 2003). By the 1930's up to 150 people were executed yearly, because of various legal challenges the execution rate was almost zero by 1967. In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court banned the practice of capital punishment, citing the death penalty as it was practiced, cruel and unusual punishment arbitrarily administered by the courts and thus unconstitutional in Furman v. Georgia (Costanzo, 18). In 1976, in Gregg v. Georgia, the Supreme

Americans have argued over the death penalty since the early days of our country. In the United States only 38 states have capital punishment statutes. As of year ended in 1999, in Texas, the state had executed 496 prisoners since 1930. The laws in the United States have change drastically in regards to capital punishment. An example of this would be the years from 1968 to 1977 due to the nearly 10 year moratorium. During those years, the Supreme Court ruled that capital punishment violated the Eight Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. However, this ended in 1976, when the Supreme Court reversed the ruling. They stated that the punishment of sentencing one to death does not perpetually infringe the Constitution. Richard Nixon

Putting people to death that have been judged by their peers to have committed certain extremely heinous crimes is a practice of ancient standing, but in the United States in the last part of the twentieth century, it has become a very controversial issue. Changing views on this difficult issue and the many legal challenges to capital punishment working their way through the courts resulted in halting all executions in the United States in 1967. Eventually, the Supreme Court placed a moratorium on capital punishment in 1972 but later upheld it in 1977. Restoring capital punishment is the will of the people, and yet many voices are raised against it. Heated public debate

  This essay will show that the United States is on an execution rampage. Since capital punishment was reinstated by the Supreme Court in the 1976 Gregg v. Georgia decision(Gregg), more than 525 men and women have been put to death by the state. More than 150 of these executions have taken place since 1996. 3,500 people are on death row today, awaiting their turn with the executioner. Capital punishment has existed throughout most of the course of our nation's history.

As noted earlier, the death penalty is one of the most discussed topics in the criminal justice system. The death penalty used to be legal in the united states until 1972 when the supreme court in Furman v. Georgia ruled it unconstitutional arguing that it violated

As per the constitution of the United States whose amendment was in in the year 1976, the legislators retracted the move to abolish capital punishment and instead decided to execute a death sentence was to be executed, but there were standards and regulations to be followed before making the decision. As per Furman V. Georgia, et al. , a death sentence was not a resolution by all means since, it does not give the offender the chance to reform and change behavior (Georgia, 1972). On the other hand, Trop V. Dulles was against the opinion of Gregg et al. to abolish death sentence since according to him, the penalty was even to every citizen and that it was used even in the past.

Growing up in my house, or probably any house where your parents have a view on something, you start to develop the view that your parents instill in you. As I listen to my parents talk about things that I don’t know much about or don’t know which side I am on, my brain starts to take over and think that that is my view too because that is the way have I been raised for my whole life. Morality is a big part of the death penalty. If someone commits a crime that takes another person’s life in a such extreme way that they need something like being put to death by the state as a punishment then so be it. People do not have as good of morals as they used to. They believe what they believe and that’s fine because everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but when people start thinking that it is okay to murder another person, torture another person, or rape someone then it is time to do something to show that if anyone else does that then will be severely punished. The death penalty can do more to keep people’s morals in check than a life sentence can.

According to Hollander the American society instituted the death penalty as early as 1608, and our views regarding lethal punishment have greatly fluctuated ever since (418). While the public’s perception to the death penalty fluctuated it did gain support from 1920 to 1940. However in the 1950s there was a decrease in support. The 1960s featured new challenges to the death penalty’s unbridled discretion, until this time the Fifth, Eighth, and Fourteenth Amendments were interpreted as allowing the death penalty. The new analysis of addressing the absolute discretion given to sentencing juries continued until Furman v. Georgia (Hollander 418). From the 1950s to the 1970s there were a meager number of executions with increasing scrutiny of the death penalty, which led to the federal government expanding its list of death-eligible federal offenses (Hollander 419). In 1972 the Court released an unprecedented yet divided five-person majority judgement in Furman v. Georgia that invalidated every existing capital statute and verdict (Hollander 419). According to the Progressive Editorial Staff on February 17, 1972 the California Supreme Court ruled in California v. Anderson that capital punishment is impermissible cruel and unusual punishment as it degraded and dehumanized the parties involved. In November of 1972 proposition 17 passes, the prop supersedes the Anderson ruling by amending the state constitution to reinstate the death penalty, ultimately the change to the states

The death penalty is an issue that began back from the 18th century in Europe. The Europeans brought it to America, and America continued the system for years, because they didn’t know how else to punish the wrongdoers. These executions were held in public areas for everyone to see. It wasn’t till 1846 that a state, Michigan, decided to abolish the death penalty for all crimes, except treason. Seeing Michigan as an example about three other states stopped the death penalty and also some countries in the Caribbean and South America, but it still was not considered an issue until the 1972 Supreme Court case of Furman v Georgia that we see a major shift in the death penalty.

Capital punishment in the United States is a widely debated topic due to the many opposing views of abolitionists, people who want the death penalty abolished. The controversy led to continuous changes in the legalization of the death penalty in the late 1900’s. As noted by Wesley Lowe, a popular Retentionist and author of “The Death Penalty in the United States,” capital punishment was terminated in 1967, but reinstated in 1977. However, state-sanctioned executions are only authorized for certain heinous crimes and must be implemented in the least barbaric ways. According to Tracy Snell, Bureau of Justice Statistician, this type of punishment is only used for certain acts of violence, such as first-degree murder; and it is performed in various ways, including lethal injection and electrocution (5-6). The death sentence still remains in effect today in 31states and receives support from 60% of the United states people (Wikipedia Contributors). These people who support the death penalty, also known as Retentionists, provide indisputable arguments, and refute the opposing views. Capital punishment in the United States is necessary because it provides an equitable punishment, while ensuring the safety of citizens and honoring the lives of the victims.

We, as Americans, have very high standards in what occurs in the states and making constitutional decisions. Here we are in the land of the free but killing people. What good comes out of it in the end? More murder. Gandhi Mahatma says.“An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind”. As a child we are taught not to kill or be influenced by those around us yet ,the death penalty goes against that idea. Those lessons are then forgotten as we do not hesitate to do wrong and kill because of the wrong choice of another.