Home / Full timeline / The Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional. Of the 600 men and women awaiting execution at the time of the ruling, 329 were Black, while 14 belonged to other minority groups.
The Supreme Court rules the death penalty unconstitutional. Of the 600 men and women awaiting execution at the time of the ruling, 329 were Black, while 14 belonged to other minority groups.
1972 (Jun 29)
The U.S. Supreme Court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that the death penalty as it was usually enforced violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. The high court order overturned the conviction of two Georgia Blacks, Henry Furman, a convicted murderer, and Lucius Jackson, a convicted rapist, and a Texas Black, Elmer Branch, also a convicted rapist. All of the victims in the crimes were white. Of the 600 men and women awaiting execution at the time of the ruling, 329 were Black, while 14 belonged to other minority groups. Justice William O. Douglas wrote that the disproportionate number of minority and poor felons sentenced to death were victims of unconstitutional discrimination.
References:
- • Hornsby, Alton. Chronology of African-American History: Significant Events and People from 1619 to the Present. Detroit: Gale Research, 1995.