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WELCOME TO STARVIN' FOR JUSTICE 2005 The 12th Annual Fast & Vigil to Abolish the Death Penalty at the U.S. Supreme Court June 29th - July 2nd, 2005

HISTORY OF FURMAN AND GREGG DECISIONS

June 29th is the anniversary of the Furman v. Georgia decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court found the death penalty to be arbitrary and capricious. More than 600 condemned inmates had their death sentences reduced to life. All states were required to re-write their death penalty laws. July 2nd is the anniversary of the Gregg v. Georgia decision, which allowed the resumption of executions in the U.S. People have called this period of time a "moratorium" on executions, but that is not accurate. No body ever said "we're putting a halt to executions." In fact, no judicial executions had taken place in the United States since 1966. It could be said that there was a "de facto" moratorium, because it just happened to be that no executions were taking place. But he Furman decision changed all of that. On June 29, 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Furman v. Georgia that the death penalty as it was then practiced was unconstitutional because it was random in its application. It was "arbitrary and capricious." The Court did not say that the death penalty was "cruel and unusual," and therefore a violation of the 8th amendment. So states were free to write new death penalty laws, and many states did so as quickly as possible. Florida was the first to write a new law, calling a special session of the legislature in November, 1972. Within a year Florida had its first death row prisoner. Other states wrote new laws, and by 1976, those new laws were being tested at the U.S. Supreme Court. On July 2, 1976, the Court upheld the new laws with its decision in Gregg v. Georgia. On January 17, 1977, Gary Gilmore voluntarily waived his appeals and became the first person executed in the current death penalty era. He was killed by firing squad by the State of Utah in revenge for his murders of Ben Bushnell and Max Jensen. On May 25, 1979, John Spenkelink became the first unwilling prisoner to be executed in the current death penalty era, when he was burned to death in Florida's electric chair in revenge for his murder of Joseph Szymankiewicz. Read Furman v. Georgia Read Gregg v. Georgia Historical Perspective: The Washington Post from 6/30/1972 Historical Perspective: The Death Penalty - 25 Years Later (Report on the State of the DP 25 years after Gregg) Historical Perspective: The Gregg Decision, by Prof. Michael Radelet ************************* Read Furman v. Georgia Read Gregg v. Georgia Historical Perspective: The Washington Post from 6/30/1972 Historical Perspective: The Death Penalty - 25 Years Later (Report on the State of the DP 25 years after Gregg) Historical Perspective: The Gregg Decision, by Prof. Michael Radelet

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This web site is sponsored by: Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty