US Supreme Court confirms States' right to enforce the death penalty

Historical Context Note

Lucas Paul Richert (University of Saskatchewan)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 3.2.4: American (US) Writing and Culture: Postwar and Contemporary, 1945-present.
Vol. editors: Sofia Ahlberg (Uppsala University), Patrick Chura (University of Akron), Emory Elliott (University of California, Riverside), Dale Enggass (University of Utah), Christopher Hugh Gair (University of Glasgow), Matthew Hofer (University of New Mexico), Stephen E. Meats (Pittsburg State University), Kerry Myler (Birmingham Newman University), Justin Parks (UiT - The Arctic University of Norway), Nick Selby (University of East Anglia)

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Dates

Date of occurrence 1976

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United States (Location)

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In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the death penalty statutes of some states. The Supreme Court decided that state laws making the death penalty automatic were unconstitutional but those laws which provided a framework for discretion were constitutional. The first execution to follow the 1976 decisions was in 1977.

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Citation: Richert, Lucas Paul. "US Supreme Court confirms States' right to enforce the death penalty". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 October 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=3653, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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