Troy Gregg Case

In 1976, a man named Troy Leon Gregg was charged and convicted of armed robbery and murder of Fred Simmons and Bob Moore. In accordance with the Georgia procedure in capital cases, the trial must be in two stages, a guilt stage and a sentencing stage and after both stages, Troy Gregg was ultimately sentenced to death for the murder of Fred Simmons and Bob Moore. Unfortunately, due to the 1972 case, Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court established that the death penalty system was unconstitutional and violated the eighth amendment of no cruel or unusual punishment. Which in turn, raised the question for the courts; does Georgia’s new sentencing procedures have the required prerequisite to sentence someone to death? In my opinion, I absolutely …show more content…
Unfortunately, Gregg’s conviction was affirmed and Potter Stewart, one of the Supreme court justices, had his plurality opinion to say “In a 7-to-2 decision, the Court held that a punishment of death did not violate the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments under all circumstances. In extreme criminal cases, such as when a defendant has been convicted of deliberately killing another, the careful and judicious use of the death penalty may be appropriate if carefully employed. Georgia 's death penalty statute assures the judicious and careful use of the death penalty by requiring a bifurcated proceeding where the trial and sentencing are conducted separately, specific jury findings as to the severity of the crime and the nature of the defendant, and a comparison of each capital sentence 's circumstances with other similar cases” (Paragraph 3). In brief, with Georgia’s new sentencing guidelines and procedures, Georgia makes sure that if there is a death sentence imposed, the supreme court of Georgia will review it to decide whether or not the particular case is deemed appropriate to follow …show more content…
Gregg had no sympathy for what he had done as well. the death penalty is there to serve as an ultimate deterrence to prevent people from killing one another and to end the lives for the ones are dangerous to society. I for one agree and think the death penalty should be upheld, there are some people who the criminal justice system cannot fix. the get released from prison and they will still do the same horrible crime that got them in prison again and a few no different from what they did. if I was a state legislator, the limits I would impose on the death penalty is that criminals are convicted of murder, rape, combination of the two with regards of kidnapping, as well as, child molesters. this will defer a lot of people and maybe it will make them think twice about what they are planning to commit and will not do it. Hopefully with these limits in place we can make society and this nation a better and safer