What was the Furman v. Georgia Supreme Court decision?

In the 1972 landmark case Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court ruled that the arbitrary and inconsistent application of the death penalty violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments as cruel and unusual punishment. While the justices did not declare capital punishment inherently unconstitutional, the per curiam decision invalidated nearly 700 death sentences and created a de facto moratorium. This forced states to rewrite their capital punishment laws to ensure greater consistency.

What we know

• The U.S. Supreme Court decided in Furman v. Georgia that the arbitrary and inconsistent imposition of the death penalty violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments and constitutes cruel and unusual punishment. [1, 2]
• The ruling was a per curiam decision where five justices each wrote separately in support. [2]
• Although it did not rule the death penalty itself unconstitutional, the decision invalidated nearly 700 death sentences and triggered a de facto moratorium on capital punishment. [2]
• The Supreme Court consolidated Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas with Furman, effectively invalidating the death penalty for rape. [2]

Where to go next

• what followedHow did states respond to the Furman moratorium?
• a case in pointWhen did the Supreme Court rule on the death penalty for rape?
• how we knowWhy was the Aikens v. California case dismissed as moot?
• the bigger pictureWhat constitutes cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment?
• what caused itHow did the California Supreme Court affect national death penalty litigation in 1972?
• an unexpected connectionHow did a state court ruling in California render a major federal Supreme Court case moot?The U.S. Supreme Court intended to decide Aikens v. California alongside Furman, but a separate ruling by the Supreme Court of California struck down capital punishment under the state constitution first, rendering the federal appeal unnecessary.

Sources

• [1]Furman v. Georgia (Wikidata Q2559328) · CC0 1.0
• [2]Furman v. Georgia · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [3]Gregg v. Georgia · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [4]Coker v. Georgia · CC BY-SA 4.0
• [5]Aikens v. California · CC BY-SA 4.0