The Furman v. Georgia case was a case in America where Furman was sentenced to death after he accidentally fired Joseph Micke the owner of the house he had gone to break into at the middle of the night. In the process of running away; Furman fired Micke, hence did deserve capital punishment as it made no much difference; given that he had shot accidentally committing a criminal act. As indicated in the Fifth Amendment of the constitution; that in the event that a person commits a capital crime, he or she will not be permitted to answer not unless in the presence of a Grand Jury. There is no price which can be paid for the lost life of a person; therefore one’s life has to pay for the life he/she has terminated as justice demands capital punishment in given cases (Herda, 1994).
Two Justices, Bernnan and Marshall strongly believed in the unconstitutionality of the death penalty; where they said it lowered human dignity and is unnecessary as well as excessive. On the other hand, the death penalty was considered cruel and unconstitutional since it violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments of the constitution. Furman was sent to the hospital at Milledgeville to have psychological tests; which showed that he was mentally retarded but his insanity was denied by the court. This meant he was judged unjustly. Other justices indicated that there was racial biasness as far as the death penalty was concerned, since most of its victims were the blacks. The fact that Furman was black and poor also triggered the judgment as the trial lasted for just a day (Henson & Olney, 1996).
The decisions made by the court concerning Furman’s case were of importance in that; human life should be respected irrespective of their race. From ancient times in America, the death sentence had taken a lot of people’s lives especially blacks; hence the decision of the court saved citizens lives. Still on the same point, the death penalty indicated the powerfulness and instructiveness of the government where a simple trial could make one get killed (Herda, 1994).
The death penalty in one way or the other indicated that, through violence problems are solved as the murderers are eliminated by sentencing them to death. Since human life lies in the hands of God, it should not be taken away by people’s decisions. After the court suspended the death penalty in America; there was a reduction in the enforcement of the death penalty fueled by racial discrimination. The decision saved the poor and the socially disadvantaged since the death penalty was disproportionately applied on them. The death penalty is not an efficient means of preventing crime; because most people do not take time in rethinking their acts (Henson & Olney, 1996).
The decision made by the court of suspending death penalties changed the Americans. By doing this, the court made the state to alter their laws on capital crimes; hence ensuring that imposition of the death penalty in a discriminatory manner would not recur. Most states in America enacted new laws concerning the death penalty, which were aimed at overcoming the imposition of it penalty by human decisions (Herda, 1994).
There was revision of the Equal Protection Clause within the Fourteenth Amendment in the constitution; which was used to stop inequalities in application of the death penalty since it was cruel and unusual. It was after the decision of the court to suspend the death penalty in America, which made it be rendered unconstitutional and as a result; different states amended their death penalty legislation to house the court’s apprehension. The American president James Carter was for the option of replacing the death penalty with life imprisonment; but later contradicted himself when he signed a new statute in 1973 which authorized the death penalty for murder and rape offences (Henson & Olney, 1996).
Reference
Henson, B. & Olney, R. (1996). Furman V. Georgia: The Death Penalty and the Constitution. Franklin Watts Press.
Herda, D. (1994). Furman V. Georgia: The Death Penalty Case. Enslow Publishers.