Capital Punishment

Question 1

Furman v. Georgia (1972)

Answer 1

Court found that the death penalty constituted cruel and unusual punishment

Question 2

Gregg v. Georgia (1976)

Answer 2

Court found that the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual

Question 3

McCleskey v. Kemp (1987)

Answer 3

Court ignored statistical evidence that blacks who kill whites a four times more likely to be sentenced to death than are whites who kill blacks

Question 4

Atkins v. Virginia (2002)

Answer 4

Banned the use of the death penalty for mentally challenged defendants

Question 5

Ring v. Arizona (2002)

Answer 5

Overruled the death sentences of more than 160 convicted killers, declaring that only juries, and not judges, can decide on the use of the death penalty for those convicted of capital crimes