CJ Quiz 9 Review Box Notes 12-27

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

5 to 4, the Court held that Georgia's death penalty statute, which gave the jury complete sentencing discretion, could result in arbitrary sentencing. The Court held that the scheme of punishment under the statute was therefore "cruel and unusual" and violated the Eighth Amendment.

Trop v. Dulles, (1958):

Eighth Amendment must "draw its meaning from the evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society."

Amendment VIII

Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.

Ford v. Wainwright

In 1986, the Supreme Court banned the execution of insane persons and required an adversarial process for determining mental competency

Roper v. Simmons (2005)

Standards of decency have evolved so that executing minors is "cruel and unusual punishment" prohibited by the Eighth Amendment

McCleskey v. Kemp

The Supreme Court held that racial disparities would not be recognized as a constitutional violation of "equal protection of the law" unless intentional racial discrimination against the defendant could be shown.

Gregg v. Georgia, Jurek v. Texas, and Proffitt v. Florida

This landmark decision held that the new death penalty statutes in Florida, Georgia, and Texas were constitutional, thus reinstating the death penalty in those states

Overwhelmingly, international opinion is

against the application of the death penalty

19 states with the death penalty

bar the execution of anyone under 18 at the time of his or her crime.

Gary Gilmore

executed in Utah by firing squad.

Hope v. Pelzer (2002)

inmate was punished for disruptive behavior by handcuffing him to a "hitching post", once for two hours and once for seven hours; If an inmate suffers serious injury as a result of punishment, then a violation of the Eighth Amendment as occurred.

Thompson v. Oklahoma

no state without a minimum age in its death penalty statute can execute someone who was under sixteen at the time of the crime.

Eighth Amendment does not

prohibit the death penalty for crimes committed at age sixteen or seventeen. Stanford v. Kentucky, and Wilkins v. Missouri

Atkins v. Virginia

the Court held that a national consensus had evolved against the execution of the "mentally retarded" and concluded that such a punishment violates the Eighth Amendment

Penry v. Lynaugh

the Court held that executing persons with "mental retardation" was not a violation of the Eighth Amendment.