Godfrey v. Georgia

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."

Godfrey v. Georgia
Argued February 20, 1980
Decided May 19, 1980
Full case nameRobert Franklin Godfrey v. The State of Georgia
Citations446 U.S. 420 (more)
100 S. Ct. 1759; 64 L. Ed. 2d 398
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
PluralityStewart, joined by Blackmun, Powell, Stevens
ConcurrenceMarshall, joined by Brennan
DissentBurger
DissentWhite, joined by Rehnquist
Laws applied
U.S. Const. amends. XII, XIV

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.


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