Review of Furman V. Georgia
Furman v. Georgia Supreme Court decision sent a ripple through the standard way of thinking in the United States legal system, by causing a nationwide moratorium on capital punishment that lasted from 1972-1976. The ruling itself did not provide any new information, it only demonstrated what then general society already knew was true, it was only a first time it was affirmed in the court of law. This court ruling showed that the legal powers the be, were in greater part paying attention to what was going on and felt that they had a legal and moral duty to find as they did in stating that there had been an unjust means to which the death penalty had been utilized.
There were three paramount cases that the Furman ruling was evaluated against, two for rape and one for murder, but subsequently the Eighth Amendment, which protects against “cruel and unusual punishment,” and the Fourteenth Amendment, which ensures due process under the law were each considered when the Supreme Court provided its findings on the matter. There were …show more content…
Georgia decision noted that the use of the death penalty over the years appeared to show a pattern of bias, it was not given the same for people having committed the same crime on every occasion and it was implemented on persons of color far more than it was on whites. Due to the clear bias of the death penalty application, one justice was noted as saying it was “unusual and that it lacked it due process”. The death penalty lacked in due process simply because it was not applied the same across the board; there was not clear cut definition for who would qualify for it. Without a clear and precise set of determinants, one could be ambiguous in the reasons for the application of a death penalty, thus allowing for the overtone of racism or other poor moral judgements to be factored in to the reason for individual trails and
Furman v. Georgia Supreme Court decision sent a ripple through the standard way of thinking in the United States legal system, by causing a nationwide moratorium on capital punishment that lasted from 1972-1976. The ruling itself did not provide any new information, it only demonstrated what then general society already knew was true, it was only a first time it was affirmed in the court of law. This court ruling showed that the legal powers the be, were in greater part paying attention to what was going on and felt that they had a legal and moral duty to find as they did in stating that there had been an unjust means to which the death penalty had been utilized.
There were three paramount cases that the Furman ruling was evaluated against, two for rape and one for murder, but subsequently the Eighth Amendment, which protects against “cruel and unusual punishment,” and the Fourteenth Amendment, which ensures due process under the law were each considered when the Supreme Court provided its findings on the matter. There were …show more content…
Georgia decision noted that the use of the death penalty over the years appeared to show a pattern of bias, it was not given the same for people having committed the same crime on every occasion and it was implemented on persons of color far more than it was on whites. Due to the clear bias of the death penalty application, one justice was noted as saying it was “unusual and that it lacked it due process”. The death penalty lacked in due process simply because it was not applied the same across the board; there was not clear cut definition for who would qualify for it. Without a clear and precise set of determinants, one could be ambiguous in the reasons for the application of a death penalty, thus allowing for the overtone of racism or other poor moral judgements to be factored in to the reason for individual trails and