In Furman v. Georgia (1972), the U.S. Supreme Court held that the imposition of the death penalty in the case constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Constitution. The case, decided along with Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas, essentially suspended the death penalty in the United States until 1976. The court's 5–4 majority decision demanded a degree of consistency in the application of the death penalty, which it found lacking in the Georgia statute at issue. While the ...

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