Roberts v. Louisiana

Roberts v. Louisiana (431 U.S. 643, 1977) asked and answered the question of whether the death penalty could be mandatorily given for first degree murder. In a 5–4 opinion, the Supreme Court of the United States decided on June 6, 1977, that Louisiana's death penalty law violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. The Louisiana statute that was declared [Page 1569]unconstitutional imposed the death penalty for first-degree murder of a police officer. Jurors were not allowed to consider any evidence about intent or other mitigating ...