*Gregg+v.+Georgia

=Gregg v. Georgia= The Supreme Court of the United States .:Gregg v. Georgia was heard by the Supreme Court in 1976:. 1/1

In early 1976, two men were sentenced for committing murder. This all started when Troy Gregg and a friend, Dennis Weaver, were hitchhiking and two men picked them up. Instead of just taking a ride, Gregg forced them out of their cars and took their money, jewelry and car. The two were first picked up by Fred Edward Simmons and Bob Durwood Moore, AND they eventually picked up Weaver. When sentenced by the State of Georgia and then put to the death penalty, Gregg complained that his sentencing was unconstitutional and that he should be set free. This would soon form into a law suit. He instead took the case to the Supreme Court of the US. One of the arguments from Gregg was that he committed this crime in self -defense. An argument from Georgia implied that Simmons and Moore were seen with an abundant amount of money and that they were killed for no apparent reason. The Court intern ?? IN TURN ruled in favor of Georgia that he should be set to the Death penalty AWKWARD WORDING seeing that he was a convicted felon from a case before. Seeing that this WAS one of the first CASES that brought up the debate that the 8th Amendment WAS UNCONSITUTIONAL? wrong for the fact of cruel and unusual punishment, there were a lot of new ideas and thoughts. Justices Thurgood Marshall and William Brennan voted against being put to death (also wrote the dissents), but the intern lost at a rate of 7 to 2. 4/5

I WOULD HOPE THAT JUSTICE BRENNAN AND MARSHALL VOTED AGAINST BEING PUT TO DEATH! READ THAT AGAIN AND YOU WILL SEE WHY I AM LAUGHING RIGHT NOW!

The Justices on the case: 1976 .:The Justices on the case: 1976 The Justices on the case: 1976 .:William J. Brennan, Jr. .:Thurgood Marshall .: John Paul Stevens .:Byron R. White .:Potter Stewart .:Harry A. Blackmun .:Lewis F. Powell, Jr. .:Warren E. Burger ñChief Justice... .:William H. Rehnquist

.: G. Hughel Harrison (By appointment of the Court, argued the cause for the petitioner) .: G. Thomas Davis (Argued the cause for the respondent)

 2/2

The legal question for the Gregg v. Georgia court case is; is the punishment of the death sentence IN THIS PARTICULAR CASE illegal under the eighth amendment of PROOF READ ìcruel and unusualî PROOF READ punishment and the fourteenth amentment SPELL ? TOO MANY SPELLING ERRORS 4/5 N

The court ruled that the death penalty was not a violation of the eighth and fourteenth amendments to the Constitution. This would only be true though if the crime that was committed was severe enough. A severe crime would include the purposeful murder of another person which is the crime that Troy Gregg committed. The vote of the justices was 7-2, which means they mostly agreed on the ruling. AND THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEATH PENATLY HAVE TO BE CONSISTENT 5/5

The ruling that the death penalty was not a violation of the eighth and fourteenth amendment was significant because it was a specific interpretation of the constitution. It put some guidelines for future juries behind the loOse statement of ìcruel and unusualî punishment. Also comma it may have caused some people to not commit certain crimes because they were scared of a more severE punishment. This would then make others feel more comfortable and safe knowing that these crimes would not be committed. I THINK THAT'S GOING A LITTLE TOO FAR

MISSING A BIG PART OF IT - MANY STATES HAD STOPPED DEATH PENALTY AFTER FURMAN V. GEORGIA IN 1972...THIS RULING ALLOWED THESE STATES TO RESUME USING THE DEATH PENALTY 4/5



(n.d.). Find law. Retrieved from http://laws.findlaw.com/us/428/153.html

(n.d.). Gregg v. georgia. Retrieved from http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970- 1979/1975/1975_74_6257

(2009, June 29). Gregg v. georga photos. Retrieved from http://www.life.com/image/88744062

Picture accreditted by: http://www2.maxwell.syr.edu/plegal/scales/greggvis.html 2/2

SEE COMMENTS ABOVE 22/25 = 88% (B)