William Henry Furman
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William Henry Furman (born 1942) is an American convicted felon who was the central figure in Furman v. Georgia (1972), the case in which the United States Supreme Court outlawed most uses of the death penalty in the United States.
Background
Furman, a black man,[1] had a sixth-grade education, and was judged "emotionally disturbed and mentally impaired."[2]
Crime and legal history
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The sentence was overturned by the Supreme Court on the basis of the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The decision struck down death penalty schemes in the whole country. Four years after the landmark decision, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the constitutionality of the death penalty when it approved the statutory changes made by three states in Gregg v. Georgia (1976).
Furman was paroled in April 1984.
In 2004, Furman pleaded guilty to a 2004 burglary charge in Bibb County Superior Court, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was paroled twelve years later, in April 2016.[3]
External links
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Notes
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- Pages with script errors
- Pages using infobox criminal with known for parameter
- 1942 births
- Living people
- American people convicted of murder
- American prisoners sentenced to death
- American burglars
- People paroled from life sentence
- People convicted of murder by Georgia (U.S. state)
- Prisoners sentenced to death by Georgia (U.S. state)