Furman v. Georgia

E8035

Eighth Amendment case Fourteenth Amendment case United States Supreme Court case criminal law case death penalty case landmark decision

Furman v. Georgia is a landmark 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case that temporarily halted capital punishment nationwide by ruling existing death penalty schemes unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

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All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Furman v. Georgia canonical	17
Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972)	1
William Henry Furman v. State of Georgia	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T84554 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Furman v. Georgia
Context triple: [Thurgood Marshall, notableDissent, Furman v. Georgia]

A. Gideon v. Wainwright
Gideon v. Wainwright is a landmark 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision that guaranteed the right to court-appointed counsel for criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney.
B. Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States is an 1879 U.S. Supreme Court case that established the distinction between protected religious belief and regulable religiously motivated conduct, holding that the Free Exercise Clause does not excuse individuals from compliance with otherwise valid criminal laws such as those banning polygamy.
C. Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States is a landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by affirming Congress’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations under the Commerce Clause.
D. Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade was a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized a constitutional right to abortion, profoundly shaping American law and politics until it was overturned in 2022.
E. Obergefell v. Hodges
Obergefell v. Hodges is the landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide by ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Furman v. Georgia
Target entity description: Furman v. Georgia is a landmark 1972 U.S. Supreme Court case that temporarily halted capital punishment nationwide by ruling existing death penalty schemes unconstitutional under the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments.

A. Gideon v. Wainwright
Gideon v. Wainwright is a landmark 1963 U.S. Supreme Court decision that guaranteed the right to court-appointed counsel for criminal defendants who cannot afford an attorney.
B. Reynolds v. United States
Reynolds v. United States is an 1879 U.S. Supreme Court case that established the distinction between protected religious belief and regulable religiously motivated conduct, holding that the Free Exercise Clause does not excuse individuals from compliance with otherwise valid criminal laws such as those banning polygamy.
C. Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States
Heart of Atlanta Motel, Inc. v. United States is a landmark 1964 U.S. Supreme Court case that upheld the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by affirming Congress’s power to prohibit racial discrimination in public accommodations under the Commerce Clause.
D. Roe v. Wade
Roe v. Wade was a landmark 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision that recognized a constitutional right to abortion, profoundly shaping American law and politics until it was overturned in 2022.
E. Obergefell v. Hodges
Obergefell v. Hodges is the landmark 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide by ruling that same-sex couples have a constitutional right to marry.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	Eighth Amendment case ⓘ Fourteenth Amendment case ⓘ United States Supreme Court case ⓘ criminal law case ⓘ death penalty case ⓘ landmark decision ⓘ
areaOfLaw	capital punishment law ⓘ constitutional law ⓘ criminal procedure ⓘ
citation	408 U.S. 238 ⓘ
constitutionalProvision	Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution ⓘ Fourteenth Amendment ⓘ surface form: Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution
country	United States of America ⓘ surface form: United States
court	Supreme Court of the United States ⓘ
decisionDate	1972-06-29 ⓘ
effect	invalidated then-existing death penalty statutes nationwide ⓘ required states to revise death penalty statutes ⓘ temporarily halted capital punishment in the United States ⓘ
fullCaseName	Furman v. Georgia self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: William Henry Furman v. State of Georgia
holding	existing death penalty schemes violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments ⓘ
impact	led to a de facto moratorium on executions in the United States ⓘ prompted states to adopt guided discretion death penalty statutes ⓘ
jurisdiction	federal ⓘ
justiceInDissent	Blackmun ⓘ surface form: Harry A. Blackmun Lewis F. Powell Jr. ⓘ Warren E. Burger ⓘ William H. Rehnquist ⓘ
justiceInMajority	Byron R. White ⓘ Potter Stewart ⓘ Thurgood Marshall ⓘ William J. Brennan Jr. ⓘ William O. Douglas ⓘ
legalIssue	arbitrary and capricious imposition of the death penalty ⓘ constitutionality of existing death penalty schemes ⓘ cruel and unusual punishment ⓘ
majorityType	per curiam opinion ⓘ
petitioner	William Henry Furman ⓘ
precedentFor	later death penalty jurisprudence in the United States ⓘ
relatedCase	Branch v. Texas ⓘ Gregg v. Georgia ⓘ Jackson v. Georgia ⓘ
respondent	U.S. state of Georgia ⓘ surface form: State of Georgia
result	remanded for further proceedings consistent with the Court's opinion ⓘ
shortDescription	1972 U.S. Supreme Court decision striking down existing death penalty schemes as unconstitutional ⓘ
temporalContext	pre-Gregg death penalty era ⓘ
vote	5-4 decision ⓘ
yearDecided	1972 ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (19)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Thurgood Marshall → notableDissent → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Furman v. Georgia → fullCaseName → Furman v. Georgia self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: William Henry Furman v. State of Georgia

Jackson v. Georgia → relatedCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution → centralIssueInCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Branch v. Texas → relatedToCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Gregg v. Georgia → overruledCaseInPart → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Gregg v. Georgia → precededBy → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

William Henry Furman → defendantIn → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

William Henry Furman → associatedCourtCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

William Henry Furman → caseCitation → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

this entity surface form: Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972)

United States Supreme Court cases of the Burger Court → hasNotableCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Jurek v. Texas → relatedTo → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Warren Burger Court → notableCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Burger Court → notableCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Proffitt v. Florida → relatedCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Woodson v. North Carolina → relatedCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Roberts v. Louisiana → relatedCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Lockett v. Ohio → relatedCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

Coker v. Georgia → relatedCase → Furman v. Georgia ⓘ

All labels observed (3)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (47)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (19)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited