Furman+v+Georgia

Furman v. Georgia was a United States Supreme Court case in 1972 that brought capital punishment to a standstill in the United States until 1976, when the decision in another case, Gregg v. Georgia, resulted in continued use of the death penalty (Reggio).

 ﻿ On August 11, 1967, William Joseph Micke came home to find his house was being robbed. Suspect William Henry Furman was stunned by Micke's arrival, and as he tried to escape he discharged his weapon blindly. A stray bullet from the blind fire hit Joseph Micke in the chest and killed him instantly. At trial, Furman testified that he had tripped and the weapon he was carrying accidently fired, killing the victim. This contradicted his earlier statement that he blindly fired while fleeing the crime. Because Furman committed a shooting during a felony, he was charged with and found guilty of first-degree murder and sentenced to death ("Furman v. Georgia"). Furman appealed to the United States Supreme court and on a 5-4 split decision it was ruled that the death penalty violated the Eighth Amendment on the basis that it was cruel and unusual punishment. Five of the justices agreed that Furman's death sentence was cruel and unusual. The justices, however, could not agree on just one reason for their decision, but instead gave these four: "1) it was too severe for the crime; 2) it was arbitrary (some get the punishment and others do not, without guidelines); 3) it offends society's sense of justice; 4) it was not more effective than a less severe penalty" (Reggio). William Henry Furman was taken off of death row and the death penalty was abolished in America until the Gregg v. Georgia case which ended in the decision to reinstate the death penalty (Reggio).