FURMAN v. GEORGIA. The Death Penalty Case

Hardback. Landmark Supreme Court Cases. Should the death penalty be considered cruel and unusual punishment. This was the question brought before the United States Supreme Court in 1972. William Furman, an African-American man who had been convicted of murder, hoped that the answer would be yes, thus sparing him from death. The state of Georgia felt that the death penalty was neither cruel, nor unusual punishment. In its stunning decision, the Supreme Court would declare that the death penalty was unconstitutional, thus sparing Furman's life and forcing states with dozens of prisoners awaiting execution on death row to come up with alternate penalties. In this book, the author examines the ideas and arguments of the people behind this landmark case, bringing to life the people and events of this controversial decision, and sheds light on the controversy still raging across the country. Illus., Chapter Notes, Further Reading and Index. 104pp. small 8vo. h/back. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Pictorial glazed covers. F.