William Henry Furman

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.

William Henry Furman
Born1942 (age 80–81)
United States
NationalityAmerican
Known forCentral figure in Furman v. Georgia
Criminal statusParoled
Conviction(s)Felony murder (1968), burglary (2004)
Criminal penalty
Details
VictimsWilliam Joseph Micke Jr.
DateAugust 11, 1967
CountryUnited States
Location(s)Savannah, Georgia
WeaponFirearm

Background

Furman, a black man,[1] had a sixth-grade education, and was judged "emotionally disturbed and mentally impaired."[2]

Main article: Furman v. Georgia

Furman was convicted of murdering William Micke during a home invasion in Savannah, Georgia on August 11, 1967, and subsequently sentenced to death on September 26, 1968, after a one-day trial.[2]

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]

  • Suspended sentence: How the U.S. almost put capital punishment to death by Kevin Clarke
  • Cheever, Joan M. (2006-04-29). "The men who escaped their fate on Death Row". The Independent. Retrieved 2017-06-18.

Notes
  1. "William Henry FURMAN, Petitioner, v. State of GEORGIA. Lucious JACKSON, Jr., Petitioner, v. State of GEORGIA. Elmer BRANCH, Petitioner, v. State of TEXAS".
  2. Herda, D. J. "The Author's Place - Furman v. Georgia Reviews". amsaw.org. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  3. Beasley, David (April 28, 2016). "Georgia inmate in historic death penalty case gains perspective". Reuters. Retrieved 2017-06-18.


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