Smrtna kazna / The Death Penalty

Primjer Sjedinjenih Američkih Država (Furman v. Georgia i The July 2 Cases) / The Example of United States of America (Furman v. Georgia and The July 2nd Cases)

Abstract

The article titled „The Death Penalty – The example of United States of America (Furman v. Georgia and the July 2nd Cases) “ relates to the research of the death penalty status within the American legislative. In this article, the special emphasis was put on the verdict of the Supreme Court of the United States of America which was pronounced in 1972. It concerns the case Furman v. Georgia, which was
considered as one of the key cases of the second half of XX century. During its history, the United States of America recognized the death penalty. This type of punishment also existed during the colonial period. At rather early stage, some of the colonies adopted criminal laws which foresaw the death penalty for people trading with Indian tribes. With the verdict in the case of Furman v. Georgia, the Supreme Court of the United States of America started the process of reform of the criminal material law and the death penalty was proclaimed as unconstitutional. Consequently this brought to the practice that the death penalty was revised in certain number of states (federal units) with aim to stop its further fulfillment. However, from 1972 onwards, the court had a chance to decide about the status of death penalty, especially within the famous cases from July 2nd from 1976. Among those cases the court paid great attention to the issue of the constitutionality of the procedures when passing the sentence, i.e. death penalty. At the end, it justified the death penalty which was practiced in Georgia, Florida and Texas.