Furman v. Georgia

The death penalty as such was not cruel and unusual punishment, but the indiscriminatory manner in which it was applied made it cruel and unusual thus violating the 8^th Amendment.

Held that a statute making death mandatory for certain offenses was unconstitutional because it didn’t given any consideration to the character and record of the offender

Statute Allowing the judge or jury to take into consideration aggravating and mitigating circumstances in imposing the alternate sentence of life imprisonment or death was constitutional.

The death penalty for the rape of an adult woman was excessive and disproportionate to the crime

The SC held that the death penalty amounted to cruel and unusual punishment when there was when murder victims died instantly—there were no mitigating circumstances such as the statute required.

SC said that death was cruel and unusual when the defendant did not participate in the murder and had not planed for their to be one, although he was part of a criminal conspiracy.

It seems that the SC will approve the death penalty only in cases involving first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances.

Defendant was to have to work off a fine at $5 per day.

The court ruled that keeping an offender in jail beyond the max penalty allowed by law was a violation of the equal protection clause.

This case substantially reduced the use of fines in criminal cases