Gregg v. Georgia

Gregg v. Georgia' (428 U.S. 153) decided whether the death sentence is consistent with Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

In 1976 Troy Leon Gregg was found guilty by the jury of a local court for armed robbery and murder and given the death sentence. The Georgia Supreme Court agreed with the punishment except on the grounds that is was a penalty for the robbery. Gregg challenged his unmoved death sentence saying that it was against the Eighth Amendment, that no cruel or unusual punishments would be inflicted for criminal chastisements, and the Fourteenth Amendment that no State would deprive a citizen of life, liberty of property without due process of law. Gregg appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court who ruled in a 7-2 decision, with only Justice Brennan and Justice Marshall dissenting, that the death sentence didnt violate the Eighth or Fourteenth Amendment as long as it was used on the proper grounds. Georgia's death penalty statute assures that it is given judiciously only after deep investigation into the case to make sure that its severity merits such strong punishment.

This case is one of the five "Death Penalty Cases", the other four being Proffitt v. Florida, Roberts v. Louisiana, Woodson v. North Carolina and Jurek v. Texas.

Sources:

Author unknown, http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/gregg.html

Author unknown, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1970-1979/1975/1975_74_6257/

Author unknown, http://www.amnestyusa.org/abolish/greggvgeorgia/

Paul Soifer, "Important U.S. Supreme Court Cases", U.S. Government and Politics, pg 343