U.S. Supreme Court
Furman v. Georgia
408 U.S. 238 (1972)
A pivotal case holding that death sentences imposed in an arbitrary and capricious way violate the Eighth Amendment.
Legal Cases
Death penalty Supreme Court cases and New York law.
Read the original opinions, then use coalition guides to understand how courts have shaped capital punishment in the United States and New York.
Start with four landmark decisions
These rulings explain why arbitrary death sentences were struck down, how modern capital sentencing developed, why New York's law stopped working, and why the juvenile death penalty is unconstitutional.
New York Court of Appeals
People v. LaValle
3 N.Y.3d 88 (2004)
A New York Court of Appeals decision that vacated a death sentence and held the state's jury deadlock instruction unconstitutional, making the death penalty unenforceable in New York without legislative repair.
U.S. Supreme Court
Gregg v. Georgia
428 U.S. 153 (1976)
A landmark U.S. Supreme Court case on the modern death penalty and the constitutional rules for guided sentencing.
U.S. Supreme Court
Roper v. Simmons
543 U.S. 551 (2005)
Roper v. Simmons, 543 U.S. 551 (2005), is a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held that it is unconstitutional to impose capital punishment for crimes committed while under the age of 18.
Keep reading
Use these coalition explainers to connect the cases and understand what they mean for New York.