less than 1 minute read

Coker v. Georgia

Significance, On Appeal, The Verdict, Nothing Left To Lose, Ginsburg Revisits Her Brief



Appellant

Ehrlich Anthony Coker

Appellee

State of Georgia

Appellant's Claim

That the death penalty for rape violates the Constitution's Eighth Amendment.

Chief Lawyer for Appellant

David E. Kendall

Chief Lawyer for Appellee

B. Dean Grindle, Jr., Assistant Attorney General of Georgia

Justices for the Court

Harry A. Blackmun, William J. Brennan, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, John Paul Stevens, Potter Stewart, Byron R. White (writing for the Court)

Justices Dissenting

Warren E. Burger, Lewis F. Powell, Jr., William H. Rehnquist

Place

Washington, D.C.

Date of Decision

29 June 1977

Decision

In a split decision, the Court ruled that Georgia's death penalty for rape violated the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution.

Related Cases

  • Robinson v. California, 370 U.S. 660 (1962).
  • Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972).
  • Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976).

Additional topics

Law Library - American Law and Legal InformationNotable Trials and Court Cases - 1973 to 1980