Furman v. Georgia

In the two cases decided with Furman, Jackson v. Georgia and Branch v. Texas, the petitioners Jackson and Branch were both convicted of rape and sentenced to death. Jackson, an African American male who had escaped from a work gang, entered a woman's home and committed a rape and robbery of that woman. At trial, a psychiatrist testified that Jackson was not schizophrenic and was competent to stand trial, when in fact he was not. The Supreme Court, using the same reasoning as that applied to Furman, said that the unequal application of the death penalty that does not protect due process for all citizens is unconstitutional. The facts in Branch were substantially similar. Branch was an African American male who was convicted of raping an elderly woman. At trial, it was determined that Branch had a below average IQ and was in the lowest fourth-percentile in his class. He was sentenced to death nonetheless. The Supreme Court, again, said that the unequal application of the death penalty where some prejudices might exist is not constitutional in those cases.