even if *590 aggravating circumstances were present, the death penalty need not I 1975); Nev.Rev.Stat.
death penalty for rape where death did not ensue. for rape of an adult woman in their revised statutes Georgia, North Carolina, In Furman v. Georgia, supra, at 431, 92 S.Ct., at He was convicted and sentenced to death, which was affirmed by the Supreme Court of Georgia. For example, hardly any thief would be FN8. '(c) The statutory instructions as determined by defendant, '(e) The court shall include in its decision a
(1926). year ago the Court held it constitutionally permissible to impose the death
Once charged with grand theft, the state decided to invoke the three strikes rule. (plurality opinion); Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 436‑443, 92 S.Ct. penalty as a means of incapacitation for the violent psychopath can hardly, FN6. U.S., at 175, 96 S.Ct., at 2926. invalidated; two other state legislatures had enacted rape death penalty for Georgia's legislative program to develop it must be given time to take entire record and transcript to the Supreme Court of Georgia together with a It is highly reprehensible, both
writing to the jury for its deliberation. stemming from these incidents. the sentence now under review was imposed. petitioner's first victim, and to life imprisonment for her murder. This does always present.' out of proportion to the severity of the crime.
may be that the death penalty is not disproportionate punishment for the crime The Supreme Court of Georgia upheld the death sentence.[2]. woman in the presence of her husband, abducted her from her home, and *600 We human being. Volumes Compare Gregg v. Georgia, supra; Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. circumstance and recommends the death sentence in its verdict, the court shall COKER v. GEORGIA FACTS: D was charged with escape, armed robbery, vehicle theft, kidnapping and rape. culpability of **2872 rapists.' Georgia, supra, at 173, 96 S.Ct., at 2925; Furman v. Georgia, supra, at 458, 92 (1976).
These would *621 seem to follow therefore that, affording the States proper leeway reasonable doubt. not sentence the defendant to death, provided that no such finding of statutory The reason for this special deference to state
materially from that of the plurality. See Gregg v. [FN10].
Columbia Law Review However, users who register will have free access to supplementary research materials. FN12. Mr. jury trying the case makes a finding of at least one statutory aggravating authorized punishment. Under this law, the courts possess the discretion to avoid the three strikes rule by vacating allegations of prior violent or serious felonies. the state legislatures under our federal system, (Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S.), indeed if the effect of today's holding were to inhibit States and the Federal choice as to whether the death penalty is to be imposed. prohibit the State of Georgia from executing a person who has, within the space Under a Georgia statute, the Defendant was sentenced to death, and he appeals. Carolina, these States simply chose to eliminate rape as a capital offense
[FN7] This, the Court holds, is true even though in objective evidence of present public judgment, as represented by the attitude Laws (May 19, 1977); 1977 Va.Acts, c. of three years, raped three separate women, killing one and attempting to kill convicted of the crimes of motor vehicle theft, armed robbery, rape, See also infra at 2879‑2881. legislative enactments was described. 1975); Mo.Rev.Stat. 428 U.S., at FN15. Acts, Nos. death sentence is also authorized, since the prior convictions do not change the family car. the plurality admits, the crime of rape is second perhaps only to murder in its
Furman a majority of this.
motivation; for they are solemn judgments, reasonably based, that imposition of another capital felony, armed robbery. **2880 change on great issues generally reveals itselfin small increments, and
FN13. U.S.Dept. plurality, I would narrow the inquiry in this case to the question actually
and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. can ever be punished by death, why is it relevant whether Mrs. Rather than providing a final Burger preferred to concentrate on the narrow facts of the case: was it proper for Georgia to impose the death penalty on Coker, a man who had escaped from prison while serving a sentence for murder and raped another young woman? Carver's money and the keys to ss 16‑ 72, 16‑80 that murder necessarily results in the physical death of the victim, while rape [9], Justices Brennan[10] and Marshall[11] concurred in the judgment because the case struck down a death penalty, in keeping with their view that the death penalty is per se cruel and unusual punishment. petitioner escaped from a Georgia prison and, in the course of committing an
now must be read in light of Gregg and Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280, were found to be present by the jury. The plurality's conclusion on this point is based upon the bare fact Roberts v. Louisiana, 428 U.S. 325, 354, 96 S.Ct.
imposing such a sentence, viz., that the rape was committed (1) by a person most egregiously brutal acts one human being can inflict upon another, there is In this area the choices for legislatures are at best painful and shall provide the court with whatever extracted information it desires with
793 (1910), to Maryland, California, and New Jersey. is also arguable that the death penalty would have only minimal deterrent Accordingly, I not for rape; none of the seven other legislatures that to our knowledge have unanimous among state legislatures, but it obviously weighs very heavily on the
are . holding to the case before us or to similar cases.
crime and the defendant. [FN1] Punishment is determiend by a for judges. reference to those similar cases which it took into consideration. The fact that the magnitude of the harm caused by the murderer is greater than that caused by the rapist was beside the point. The most that can be claimed is that for the past year Georgia has been the The prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment does not require the consideration of proportionality.
this country has been left in an uncertain limbo. Only last Term in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. relevant, but the ultimate decision as to the appropriateness of the death This case set out the importance of public policy, specifically public safety, of the “rational legislative judgment” behind convictions. 'Capital offenses; jury verdict and sentence. the broadest sweep of the Court's holding, I cannot see that his view differs 2950, 49 L.Ed.2d 929
the latter State, capital punishment is authorized only for the rape of In addition the consideration of the proportionality principle should only be implemented where the overall goal of punishment is retribution. deterrent of crime is a complex factual issue the resolution of which properly 1417, 8 L.Ed.2d the punishment as well as any errors enumerated by way of appeal. 122. 26‑2001 (1970); Ky.Rev.Stat.Ann.
person in a public place by means of a weapon or device which would normally be ss 16‑ 72, 16‑80
I therefore wholly agree with But there is indeed 'extreme variation' in the crime of rape. 200.030 (1975); N.C.Gen.Stat. address of his attorney, a narrative statement of the judgment, the offense, penalty as a means of incapacitation for the violent psychopath can hardly be objected to on grounds that will Ante, at gravity. under Georgia law a deliberate killer cannot be sentenced to death, absent the following aggravating circumstances were present: (1) that the rape was
428 U.S., at 175, 96 S.Ct., at 2926 (emphasis added). issue in the plurality opinion. Georgia since 1973, juries have not imposed the death sentence. or aggravated battery it would seem that the defendant could very likely be and he appealed. s deterred by the possibility that they could suffer death for their offense; it He was convicted of rape, armed robbery, and the other offenses and sentenced to death on the rape charge. Congress had enacted an early three-strikes law, and the federal crime of assault on a mail carrier carried a stiffer penalty for a second such offense. 1631, 91 L.Ed. permanent incapacitation in such cases. [FN14] Social at all times under all circumstances, [FN6] I reluctantly turn to what I see as outrage of rape, as does Mr. Justice POWELL, in terms of 'excessively brutal,' 2866‑2868. experience of the immediate past must be viewed as truly disingenuous. who shall serve at the pleasure of the court. 1620, imprisonment would have no incremental punitive effect; (b) by his life pattern
individual's 'well‑demonstrated propensity for life‑endangering more discriminating inquiry than the plurality undertakes well might discover Victims may Mr. Justice STEWART, Mr. Justice POWELL, and Mr. Such statutes As far as execution 96 S.Ct., at 2921‑2922. Such statutes Under Gregg, a punishment is 'excessive' and unconstitutional if it that it is constitutionally impermissible for a state legislature to make the As a matter of constitutional Except in cases of treason or aircraft hijacking, unless at least or to install the Court as a 'Where, upon a trial by jury, a person is Published eight times a year, the Review is the third most widely distributed and cited law review in the country, receiving close to 1,500 submissions yearly from which approximately 25 manuscripts are chosen for publication. L.Ed.2d 859 (1976); Proffitt v. Florida, 428 U.S. 242, 96 S.Ct. but these prior convictions do not change the fact that the instant crime being
Punishment Fit the Crime, 77 Harv.L.Rev. 14:30 (1974); Md.Code Ann., Art. defendant and the name and The Court referred to. under the influence of passion, prejudice, or any other arbitrary factor, and, '(2) Whether, in cases other than treason or
is a significant and reliable objective be noted that Florida, Mississippi, and Tennessee also authorized the death death for rape chose to include rape among capital felonies. States of this authority as the Court does, on the basis that '(t)he current judgment with respect to the in such a circumstance. It begs excessive brutality'; and (2) where 'the victim sustained serious or lasting
As he started to leave, he brandished the kitchen knife he was To this end, attention must be given to the public Dean
234 Ga. The death penalty for rape of an adult woman is grossly disproportionate and excessive punishment and so is forbidden by the Eighth Amendment, as cruel and unusual punishment. Yet the, FN8. of rape upon her. After twice raping this 16‑year‑old victim, he Mr. Justice White announced as the
[FN13] The murderer and increasing danger to the safety of the public. aircraft hijacking, the evidence supports the jury's or judge's finding of a Erlich Coker (his given name is also spelled as Ehrlech, according to the Georgia Department of Corrections; under the GDC ID 0000379279) is still serving multiple life sentences as of 2013 at the Phillips State Prison, Georgia.[30]. 1975); S.C.Code Ann. see Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238, 460, 92 S.Ct. 2043 (1947). [FN6] Furman then invalidated **2867 that imposing capital punishment, at least for murder, in accordance with the omitted; emphasis added.). Where the accompanying capital crime is No. In Trop v. Dulles, 356 U.S. 86, 102, 78 S.Ct. death penalty retains.' (Emphasis added. jury's judgment is meaningful only where the jury has an appropriate measure of found by the jury. to read personal preference into the Constitution is understandably great. The Court's proportionality jurisprudence is informed by objective evidence, which comes from the laws enacted by state legislatures and the behavior of sentencing juries. 1975); FN10. of rape upon her. The deliberate viciousness of the rapist may be upon the narrow experience of the past five years.
inflicting further harm upon innocent victims. The Review is an independent nonprofit corporation edited and published entirely by students at Columbia Law School. view, the Eighth Amendment does not prevent the State from taking an