Godfrey v. Georgia (1979)
- Docket
- 78-6899
- Decided
- 1979-01-01
Summary
Question: Is the Georgia law governing the death penalty “arbitrary and capricious” in violation of the Eighth Amendment? Conclusion: Justice Potter Stewart delivered the opinion of the 6-3 plurality. The Supreme Court held that the Georgia law was unconstitutionally vague and failed to properly distinguish between those cases that would be eligible for the death penalty and those that wouldn’t. Even accepting the law, the Court found no evidence that Godfrey’s crimes contained the elements described in the law. Justice Thurgood Marshall wrote a concurring opinion where he argued not only that the law was unconstitutional, but also that a death penalty sentencing requires much more restrictive sentencing guidelines. He also argued that the death penalty itself was unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendment. Justice William J. Brennan, Jr., joined in the concurrence. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger wrote a dissenting opinion and argued that the plurality’s decision leads to death penalty sentences being imposed on a case-by-case basis, which is more arbitrary than the current Georgia law. In his dissenting opinion, Justice Byron R. White argued that the Georgia law provided strict enough requirements to ensure that the imposition of the death penalty was not disproportionate to the crime. He also argued that the Supreme Court should not interfere with the decisions of the Georgia Supreme Court when they are “responsibly and consistently interpreting state law.” Justice William H. Rehnquist joined in the dissent.