Home > Great American Court Cases > Furman v. Georgia

Legal Citation: 408 U.S. 238 (1972)

Appellant
William Henry Furman

Appellee
State of Georgia

Appellant's Claim
That the Georgia death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Chief Lawyers for Appellant
Anthony G. Amsterdam, Elizabeth B. Dubois, Jack Greenberg, Jack Himmelstein, B. Clarence Mayfield, Michael Meltsner

Chief Lawyers for Appellee
Dorothy T. Beasley, Arthur K. Bolton, Harold N. Hill, Jr., Andrew J. Ryan, Jr., Andrew J. Ryan III, Courtney Wilder Stanton

Justices for the Court
William J. Brennan, Jr., William O. Douglas, Thurgood Marshall, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White (unsigned)

Justices Dissenting
Harry A. Blackmun, Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist

Place
Washington, D.C.

Date...