Godfrey v. Georgia

Supreme Court of the United States

Argued February 20, 1980
Decided May 19, 1980

Full case name

Robert Franklin Godfrey v. The State of Georgia

Citations

446 U.S. 420 (more)

Holding

The Court reversed the judgment insofar as it leaves standing the death sentences, and the case was remanded.

Court membership

Chief Justice Warren E. Burger

Associate Justices William J. Brennan, Jr. · Potter Stewart Byron White · Thurgood Marshall Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell, Jr. William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens

Case opinions

Plurality

Stewart, joined by Blackmun, Powell, Stevens

Concurrence

Marshall, joined by Brennan

Dissent

Burger

Dissent

White, joined by Rehnquist

Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a death sentence could not be granted for a murder when the only aggravating factor was that the murder was found to be "outrageously or wantonly vile."

The Court reversed and remanded the Georgia death penalty sentence because, under Furman v. Georgia, such a factor did not help sentencing judges or juries avoid arbitrary and capricious infliction of the death penalty.

References

GODFREY V. GEORGIA, 446 U. S. 420 (1980) - US Supreme Court Cases from Justia & Oyez

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 6/6/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.