The Death Penalty Restored
Court Action and the Furman Moratorium
The death penalty has long been a sentencing option in this country. Capital punishment was a feature of English law that the early colonists brought with them. Once here, they often supplemented English law with provisions of their own. Although law among the colonies was hardly uniform beyond its English foundations, murder, rape, grand larceny, and various other property crimes appear to have been among the crimes punishable by death in each of the colonies. In fact, “at the time the Eighth Amendment was ratified, capital punishment was a common sanction in every State.” — Gregg v. Georgia (1976). When…
