Furman v. Georgia, 1972
Furman v. Georgia was a landmark Supreme Court case in 1972 in which John Furman was sentenced to death. Furman was accused of armed robbery that went sour, when his gun accidentally went off killing an innocent victim. He was sentenced to death, which he quickly appealed.
Furman claimed that his trial was unfair, and that the death penalty was cruel and unusual punishment, therefore unconstitutional. The court did not agree with Furman that the death penalty was unconstitutional, but rather the way that it was decided was.
Before this case there were no rational, realistic standards for when the death penalty could be given to someone, therefore it was being based on unfair things such as race, economic standing, and your attorney. So someone that committed the same exact crime as you could get life in prison for example while you are put to death, when the crime they committed was worse then yours.
Because the Supreme Court found this to be true, they put a temporarily ban on the death penalty in the United States, soon after the Supreme Courts ruling 35 states changed their death penalty systems, in order to make them just and fair.
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