In which 1972 court case did the Supreme Court ban capital punishment as it was currently performed and require states to ensure that legislation met the Court's specific requirements?

• A. Gregg v Georgia
• B. Furman v Georgia
• C. Brown v Board of Education
• D. Roe v Wade

Answer: (B)

Capital punishment was found unconstitutional as it was being applied because the justice system was rendering sentences in an arbitrary and capricious way, violating the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the Supreme Court halted executions and held that the death penalty, as practiced at the time, produced unpredictable and discriminatory results. The decision pushed states to overhaul their statutes to reduce discretion and introduce safeguards, requiring a more structured process with clear criteria for when the death penalty could be imposed. This led to reforms like bifurcated trials, consideration of mitigating and aggravating factors, and standardized sentencing guidelines aimed at achieving proportionality. The ruling didn’t abolish the death penalty forever, but it did pause its modern application and set the conditions for future, constitutionally acceptable statutes. Later, Gregg v. Georgia (1976) upheld death-penalty schemes that complied with those requirements. The other cases listed address unrelated topics: Brown v. Board of Education concerns school desegregation, and Roe v. Wade concerns abortion rights.