William Henry Furman

William Henry Furman 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
NationalityAmerican
Known forCentral Figure in Furman v. Georgia where the United States Supreme Court overturned the death penalty, murder of William Joseph Micke Jr.
Criminal chargeMurder
PenaltySentenced to death on 20 September 1968, overturned by the United States Supreme Court in Furman v. Georgia in 1972, paroled in 1984
Details
VictimsWilliam Joseph Micke Jr
DateAugust 11, 1967
WeaponFirearm

Background

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

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.[1]

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.

He pleaded guilty to a 2004 burglary charge in Bibb County Superior Court, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

In April 2016, Furman was paroled from prison.[2]

  • 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.
  • Erick (2008). "William Henry Furman, A Postscript". RedState. Archived from the original on 2013-02-01. Retrieved 2017-06-18.

Notes
  1. Herda, D. J. "The Author's Place - Furman v. Georgia Reviews". amsaw.org. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
  2. Beasley, David (April 28, 2016). "Georgia inmate in historic death penalty case gains perspective". Reuters. Retrieved 2017-06-18.


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