Furman V. Georgia

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4. (20 points). Describe the facts, rulings and reasoning of the Supreme Court decisions in Furman v. Georgia and Gregg v. Georgia respecting whether or not the imposition of the death penalty is a “cruel and unusual punishment” in violation of the Eighth Amendment
Furman V Georgia, was a Supreme Court decision that had to do with the requirement for a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty. In this case a man woke up in the middle of the night to find a burglar named William Henry Furman robbing his house. While trying to escape, Mr Furman stated that he tripped on a object making his gun go off and accidentally killing the owner of the house. However, this contradicted his first statement where he stated to police
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Wade, Roe a single woman become pregnant in 1970 and wanted an abortion in Texas where she was from. However, Texas law only allowed abortions if life was in danger, otherwise it was a crime. In her assault on wade she was joined by a licensed physician named Hallford who had to prosecution pending against him and a angry couple who were not aloud to have a baby because of poor health. As they reached the Supreme Court, the married couple and James Halford case was dismissed but Roes wasn't. Although the constitution does not state that an individual has a right to privacy, it is kind of says it in the ninth amendment which gives reserve rights to the people. As the case went on, the state of Texas must show why the abortion law is important. The state of Texas raised an argument saying that a fetus is considered a person and has a right of life. The Court did not agree, saying that the fetus is not considered a person within the law. The Supreme Court continue saying that Texas does not have the right to take a womens rights away and made a compromise with both Roe and the state of Texas. They stated in the 6 month of Pregnancy, women have the right to do whatever they want in the first 12 weeks. However the next several weeks, based on interest in protecting and promoting life, Texas is able to determine if the a female can have the abortion or …show more content…
Texas case, the question of whether homosexuals had a fundamental constitutional right to engage in sodomy was brought up. During a response to a weapons call, Police officers found John Lawrence and Tyron Garner engaged in anal sex while entering his home. Both Men were arrested and charged and fined two hundred dollars because of the the Texas anti-sodomy law, which prohibited oral or anal sex between two members of the same sex. Lawrence ended up petitioning to the Supreme Court and was granted certiorari. During the case , the Court decided that the Due process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendedmnt did extend homosexualts rights. They also stated that Texas had no legitimate interest that warranted infringing that