After June 1967 no one in America was executed for nearly ten years, as NAACP Legal Defense Fund lawyers fought every execution. In 1972, Furman v. Georgia ruled five to four, in nine opinions, that the death penalty as used was as random as lightning, and every death sentence fell. Thirty-five states rewrote their laws, Gregg v. Georgia let executions resume in 1976, and Justice Blackmun vowed in 1994 to stop tinkering.
Who's who
- Anthony AmsterdamLaw professor and chief strategist of the campaign against the death penalty
- Jack Greenberg+1 more episodeLed the NAACP Legal Defense Fund
- William Henry FurmanSavannah burglar and named petitioner in Furman v. Georgia
- Troy Leon GreggGeorgia defendant whose case upheld the new statutes
- Gary GilmoreExecuted by Utah firing squad in 1977, first of the modern era
- Harry Blackmun+2 more episodesJustice who helped build the system, then called it a failure
- Arthur GoldbergJustice whose 1963 dissent invited a challenge over death for rape
- Thurgood Marshall+4 more episodesJustice who held the death penalty unconstitutional in all circumstances
Where it happens
- Colorado+7 more episodesGas chamber execution on June 2, 1967 began the pause
- Savannah, Georgia+1 more episodeSite of the burglary behind Furman
- Utah State PrisonSite of Gilmore's execution by firing squad
Timeline
- June 2, 1967Colorado executes the last person before the moratorium
- June 29, 1972Furman v. Georgia halts executions nationwide
- July 2, 1976Gregg v. Georgia approves guided-discretion statutes
- January 17, 1977Gilmore executed, first of the modern era
- February 22, 1994Blackmun's dissent: no longer tinker with the machinery of death
- July 2, 2026Fiftieth anniversary of Gregg
Still debated
What Furman held is still disputed, since reasoning split five ways between arbitrariness, race discrimination and a halfway step to abolition. Whether the moratorium strategy caused Furman or a backlash that enlarged death rows is argued, and whether Gregg's safeguards worked is tested in later episodes.
Connected episodes in other series
Why the Sioux Refuse Over a Billion DollarsAs Long as the Grass Grows · Episode 9Also features Harry Blackmun
The Warren Court: Judicial Activism From the Other DirectionThe Least Dangerous Branch? · Episode 9Also features Thurgood Marshall
Marinship: The Welder Who Sued His Own UnionLiberty Ships, Closed Doors · Episode 12Also features Thurgood Marshall
The Parish and the Poor RateThe Payor of Last Resort · Episode 2Also features Thurgood Marshall