Ruling in Furman v. Georgia, on June 29, 1972, the majority opinion declared that “the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty in these cases constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.”
The question presented was:
“Does the imposition and carrying out of the death penalty in [these cases] constitute cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments?”
The opinion
Read the full rulingPDF · 7.11 MBPublished by the Library of Congress.
Oral argument
Listen at OyezOffsiteThe Court's own audio archive begins with the 2010 term, so this argument is held by Oyez rather than by supremecourt.gov.
