Issue: What overarching issue was the court addressing or resolving (one question

Facts: What are the facts.

Rule of Law: which amendment was used and why AND Which italicized cases were mentioned

* include the actual statutes, constitutional amendments or cases the Court applies the facts THE OTHER ITALIZES CASES and AMENDMENT IS USED

Application- how did the court apply the rule to the facts?

*application section should be how the Court applied the facts to the law

Conclusion: what result did the court reach and WHY?

Coker v. Georgia

[Coker was convicted of rape and sentenced to death by a Georgia jury. His conviction and sentence were affirmed by the Georgia Supreme Court. Coker appealed, claiming that the punish- ment of death for the crime of rape violates the Eighth Amendment, which prohibits "cruel and unusual punishments."] MR. JUSTICE WHITE announced the judge ment of the Court Furman v. Georgia, and the Court's decisions last Term in Gregg v. Georgia and others, make unnecessary the recanvassing of certain critical as- pects of the controversy about the constitutionality of capital punishment. It is now settled that the death penalty is not invariably cruel and unusual punish- ment within the meaning of the Eighth Amendment; it is not inherently barbaric or an unacceptable mode of punishment for crime; neither is it always dispro- portionate to the crime for which it is imposed. It is also established that imposing capital punishment. at least for murder, in accordance with the proce- dures provided under the Georgia statutes saves the sentence from the infirmities which led the Court to invalidate the prior Georgia capital punish- ment statute in Furman v. Georgia. In sustaining the imposition of the death penalty in Gregg, however, the Court firmly embraced the holdings and dicta from prior cases, Furman v. Georgia, Robinson v. California, Trop v. Dulles, and Weems v. United States, to the effect that the Eighth Amendment bars not only those punish- ments that are "barbaric" but also those that are "excessive" in relation to the crime committed. Under Gregg, a punishment is "excessive" and un- constitutional if it (1) makes no measurable contri- bution to acceptable goals of punishment and hence is nothing more than the purposeless and needless imposition of pain and suffering; or (2)1n sustaining the imposition of the death penalty in Gregg. however. the Court rmly embraced the holdings and diets from prior eases. Fumtan v. Georgia, supra: Robinson v. California, 370 US. 660 ( I962); Trop v. Dulles. 356 US. 86 (1958); and Woman v. United States, 217 US. 349 (19 ID), to the effect that the Eighth Amendment bars not only those punishments that are \"barbaric\" but also those that are \"excessive\" in relation to the crimecommil'ted. Under Gregg. a pun- ishment is \"excessive" and unconstitutional if it (1) makes no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment and hence is nothing more than the purposeless and need- less imposition of pain and su'cring: or {2} is grossly out of proportion to the seVerity of the crime. A punishment might fail the test on either ground. Furthermore. these Eighth Amendment judgments should not be. or appear to be. merely the subjective views of individual Justices; judgment should be informed by objective factors to the maximum possible extent. To this end. attention must be given to the public attitudes concerning a particular sentencehistory and precedent. Iegisiative attitudes, and the response of juries reected in their sentencing decisions are to be consulted. In Gregg. after giving due regard to such sources, the Court's judgment was that the death penalty for deliberate mur- der was neither the purposeless imposition of severe punishment nor a punishment grossly disproportionate to the crime. But the Court reserved the question of the constitutionality of the death penalty when imposed for other crimes. 428 U.S.. at 18'? n. 35. III That question. with respect to rape of an adult woman is now before us. We have concluded that a sentence of death is grossiy disproportionate and excessive punishment for the crime of rape and is therefore forbid- den by the Eighth Amendment as cruel and unusual punishment. A As advised by recent cases. we seek guidance in history and From the objective evidence of the country's present judgment concerning the acceptability of death as a penalty for rape of an adult woman. At no time in the last 50 years have a majority of the States authorized death as a punishment for rape. In I925. l8 States, the District of Columbia. and the Federal Government authorized capital punishment for the rape of an adult femaje. By 1971 just prior to the decision in Funnan v. Georgia, that number had declined, but not substantially, to lo States plus the Federal Government. Furman then invalidated most of the capital punish- ment statutes in this country, including the rape statutes. because. among other reasons. of the manner in which the death penalty was imposed and utilized under those laws. With their death penalty statutes for the most part invalidated. the States were faced with the choice of enacting modied capital punishment laws in an attempt to satisfy the requirements ofFurman or of being satised with life imprisonment as the ultimate pun- ishment for any offense. Thirty-ve States