What is Gregg v. Georgia?
{{italic title}} {{SCOTUSCase |Litigants=Gregg v. Georgia |ArgueDateA=March 30 |ArgueDateB=31 |ArgueYear=1976 |DecideDate=July 2 |DecideYear=1976 |FullName=Troy Leon Gregg v. State of Georgia; Charles William Proffitt v. State of Florida; Jerry Lane Jurek v. State of Texas; James Tyrone Woodson, et al. v. State of North Carolina; Roberts, et al. v. Louisiana |USVol=428 |USPage=153 |Citation=96 S. Ct. 2909; 49 L. Ed. 2d 859; 1976 U.S. LEXIS 82 |Prior=[[Appeals court|Appeals]] to the Supreme Courts of Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, and Louisiana, and the Court of Criminal Appeals of Texas |Subsequent= |Holding=The death penalty does not ''always'' violate the [[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Eighth]] and [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|Fourteenth]] [[Amendment]]s. The death penalty may be constitutional if states follow certain rules, and [[appeals court]]s review death sentences. If the death penalty is [[wikt:mandatory|mandatory]], then it is unconstitutional. |SCOTUS=1975-1981 |Majority=Stewart, Powell, Stevens |JoinMajority= |Concurrence=Rehnquist |Concurrence2=White |Concurrence3=Blackmun |JoinConcurrence2=Burger, Rehnquist |Dissent=Brennan |Dissent2=Marshall |LawsApplied=[[Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution]] }} '''''Gregg v. Georgia''''', ''Proffitt v. Florida'', ''Jurek v. Texas'', ''Woodson v. North Carolina'', and ''Roberts v. Louisiana'', {{ussc|428|153|1976}} were a group of [[landmark decision|landmark]] [[lawsuit|cases]] that the [[United States Supreme Court]] decided together in 1976. They had to do with [[capital punishment in the United States]]. In these cases, the Court ruled that [[States of the United States|the states]] could use [[capital punishment]] (the death penalty), but only if they followed certain rules. If the states did not follow these rules when they sentenced people to death, they would be [[wikt:violate|violating]] the [[Constitution of the United States]] by giving out a [[cruel and unusual punishment]].<ref na