In Furman v. Georgia, the United States Supreme Court places a limited moratorium on the death penalty, deciding that its arbitrary appplication to certain felonies violates the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The ruling, however, compelled state governments to define their capital punishment statutes, allowing those states to continue to use the death penalty.
Please support this magazine of trusted historical writing, now in its 75th year, and the volunteers that sustain it with a donation to American Heritage.