Godfrey v. Georgia

Godfrey v. Georgia
Argued February 20, 1980
Decided May 19, 1980
Full case name Robert Franklin Godfrey v. The State of Georgia
Citations 446 U.S. 420 (more)
Holding
The Court reversed the judgment insofar as it leaves standing the death sentences, and the case was remanded.
Court membership
Chief Justice
Warren E. Burger
Associate Justices
William J. Brennan Jr. · Potter Stewart
Byron White · Thurgood Marshall
Harry Blackmun · Lewis F. Powell Jr.
William Rehnquist · John P. Stevens
Case opinions
Plurality Stewart, joined by Blackmun, Powell, Stevens
Concurrence Marshall, joined by Brennan
Dissent Burger
Dissent White, joined by Rehnquist

Godfrey v. Georgia, 446 U.S. 420 (1980), was a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that a death sentence could not be granted for a murder when the only aggravating factor was that the murder was found to be "outrageously or wantonly vile."

The Court reversed and remanded the Georgia death penalty sentence because, under Furman v. Georgia, such a factor did not help sentencing judges or juries avoid arbitrary and capricious infliction of the death penalty.

References


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