Is the Death Penalty Illegal?!? | Gregg v. Georgia

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I wrote a new book all about the Supreme Court. Order your copy here: http://amzn.to/45WzhurIn In episode 62 of Supreme Court Briefs, the Supreme Court determines the death penalty is unconstitutional, but then later says it actually kind of is. Produced by Matt Beat. All images/video by Matt Beat, found in the public domain, or used under fair use guidelines. Music by Quinn Parsley. Check out his stuff at https://www.youtube.com/c/QuinnParsley. #supremecourt #supremecourtbriefs #apgov Check out cool primary sources here: https://www.oyez.org/cases/1971/69-5030 https://www.oyez.org/cases/1975/74-6257 Other sources used/further reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furman_v._Georgia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gregg_v._Georgia https://www.themarshallproject.org/2016/03/30/it-s-been-40-years-since-the-supreme-court-tried-to-fix-the-death-penalty-here-s-why-it-failed https://www.law.cornell.edu/supremecourt/text/408/238 https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/blog/on-this-day-supreme-court-temporarily-finds-death-penalty-unconstitutional https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-supreme-court/408/238.html https://law2.wlu.edu/deptimages/powell%20archives/69-5030_JacksonGeorgia.pdf https://law.justia.com/cases/texas/court-of-criminal-appeals/1969/43907-2-5.html https://constitutioncenter.org/interactive-constitution/interpretation/amendment-viii/clauses/103 https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/428/153/ http://landmarkcases.c-span.org/Case/26/Gregg-v-Georgia https://billofrightsinstitute.org/e-lessons/gregg-v-georgia-1976 http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/conlaw/gregg.html https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troy_Leon_Gregg https://www.aclu.org/other/death-penalty-101 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_punishment_in_the_United_States Cameo, yo: https://www.cameo.com/iammrbeat?qid=1614915028 Snail mail Mr. Beat: PO Box 1982 Lawrence, KS 66044 Donate to Mr. Beat for great perks on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/iammrbeat Buy Mr. Beat's book, The Ultimate American Presidential Election Book: Every Presidential Election in American History (1788-2016) https://amzn.to/3fdakiZ Donate to Mr. Beat on Paypal: https://www.paypal.me/mrbeat Buy Mr. Beat T-shirts, coffee mugs, etc.: https://www.iammrbeat.com/merch.html Reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/mrbeat/ Mr. Beat's band: http://electricneedleroom.us Mr. Beat on Twitter: https://twitter.com/beatmastermatt Mr. Beat on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/iammrbeat/ Mr. Beat on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/iammrbeat Mr. Beat's Discord server: https://discord.gg/g8cZPjt Mr. Beat's Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@iammrbeat?lang=en Mr. Beat favorites: Useful Charts: https://usefulcharts.com/?aff=12 Recommended books: Republic, Lost by Lawrence Lessing https://go.magik.ly/ml/11jul/ Truman by David McCullough https://go.magik.ly/ml/11jwc/ Studio equipment: Canon EOS M50 Camera EF-M 15-45mm Lens https://amzn.to/3dcNPen Samtian LED Video Light Kit https://amzn.to/3llDwHO TroyStudio Acoustic Panel https://amzn.to/33CkqHn Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic https://amzn.to/2GseOHa I use MagicLinks for all my ready-to-shop product links. Check it out here: https://www.magiclinks.com/rewards/referral/mrbeat/ FTC Disclosure: This post or video contains affiliate links, which means I may receive a commission for purchases made through my links. Texas and Georgia The 1960s Texas sentences one man to death and Georgia sentences two men to death for crimes involving rape and murder. However, their lawyers argued that they didn’t deserve the death penalty for their crimes and appealed their cases. But, the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals and Supreme Court of Georgia both upheld the death sentences of all three men. That said, the three cases did catch the attention of the Supreme Court, who combined them into one to see if they went against the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution. In particular, the clause that said there shall be no “cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” Well what the heck did that really mean? The Court heard oral arguments for the cases on January 17, 1972. The big question was “Did sentencing these three men to death go against both the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments?” The Court said yes, although it was a close one. In a 5-4 decision, the Court announced on June 29, 1972 that the death penalty in the cases of these three men was indeed cruel and unusual punishment and therefore went against the Constitution.