Furman V. Georgia

Furman vs. Georgia In Furman vs. Georgia Furman was convicted of murder and two others for rape. â€Å"Juries had convicted Furman for murder and two other individuals for rape—all three were African American—and then imposed the death penalty. † (Source A). â€Å"Furman v. Georgia (1972). † American Government. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 19 Apr. 2010. . The three pleaded that the death penalty is against the eighth amendment, which prohibits any man from suffering cruel and unusual punishment, and when Furman and his counterparts case reached the Supreme Court, the Supreme Court ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. So the Court ruled for the first time that capital punishment violated the Eighth Amendment. † â€Å"All executions were put on hold following the decision. †(Source B). Hinds, Maurine. Furman v. Georgia and the DEATH PENALTY DEBATE. Berkely Heights, NJ: Enslow Publishers, Inc. , 2005. 79-80. Print. The significance of Furman v. Geo rgia is that this case was the first case that was ruled violating the Eighth amendment and that it halted every man on death row in the United States. The decision of the Supreme Court is a superior choice because it is not within the right of another person to choose which man should die and which man should live and that the death penalty is not something that are forefathers saw as constitutional. In Furman v. Georgia â€Å"On the night of August 11, 1967, 29-year-old William Joseph Micke, Jr. , came home from work to his wife and five children in Savannah,Georgia. He went to bedaround midnight. Two hours later, the Mickes were awakened by strange noises in thekitchen. Thinking that one of his children was sleepwalking, William Micke went to thekitchen to investigate. Micke found 26-year-old William Henry Furman in the kitchen. Furman was a poor, uneducated, mentally ill African American who had broken into the house and was carrying a gun. When he saw Micke, Furman fled the house, shooting Micke as he left. The bullet hit Micke in the chest, killing him instantly. Micke's family immediately called the police. Within minutes, the police searched the neighborhood and found Furman still carrying his gun. Furman was charged with murder. † (Source C). http://www. enotes. com/supreme-court-drama/furman-v-georgia. N. p. , n. d. Web. 19 Apr 2010.