Furman Vs Georgia Essay

Furman v. Georgia. Furman v. Georgia was a famous supreme court case that put restrictions on the death penalty in the state of Georgia and across the Unites States. Before this case, the death penalty had many unfair, racist, and random results (Blanco). Set in the late 1960s, Furman v. Georgia was a case most famous for withholding the death penalty on historically oppressed people in the state of Georgia.
There is not much on William Henry Furman other than the fact he was a poor black man who was born in 1941, and held a sixth grade education (Blanco). During the time of Furman v. Georgia, the Civil Rights Movement was a pressing matter as well. In the south, blacks fought for their own liberties just as everyone else. Blacks were frequently

While Furman was making his escape attempt, his gun was pointed behind him and “accidentally” fired at Micke, killing him. The police had searched around the Micke’s neighborhood after the murder, and found Furman still armed with his murder weapon. Furman was taken into custody that night and was convicted to a murder felony by his own statement. Before his trial, he was taken to the Georgia Central State Hospital for a psychologic evaluation. The results concluded that he was mentally and emotionally disturbed, and psychotic

Even though there was evidence that tipped off that the murder was in fact unintentional, Furman was sentenced to death by electrocution in the state of Georgia. Furman did appeal to both the sentence and conviction, and the Georgia Supreme Court endorsed both on April 24th, 1969. But on the 3rd of May, the court delayed Furman’s execution so that Furman could have a chance to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Furman’s case grew to be so popular, that other lawyers wanted to join Clarence Mayfield and help with this case. One important figure in this case was Anthony G. Amsterdam. And while standing before the Supreme Court on January 17th, 1972, he persistently argued that the death penalty in the state of Georgia did, in fact, violate the United States Constitution. Amsterdam stated how the 8th Amendment discusses that the government is not allowed to constitute cruel and unusual punishment