Capital Punishment on Trial: Furman v. Georgia and the Death Penalty in Modern America (Landmark Law Cases and American Society)

In his first book since the Pulitzer Prize-winning Polio: An American Story, renowned historian David Oshinsky takes a new and closer look at the Supreme Court's controversial and much-debated stances on capital punishment--in the landmark case of Furman v. Georgia.

Career criminal William Furman shot and killed a homeowner during a 1967 burglary in Savannah, Georgia. Because it was a "black-on-white" crime in the racially troubled South, it also was an open-and-shut case. The trial took less than a day, and the nearly all-white jury rendered a death sentence. Aided by the NAACP's Legal Defense Fund, Furman's African-American attorney, Bobby Mayfield, doggedly appealed the verdict all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which in 1972 overturned Furman's sentence by a narrow 5-4 vote, ruling that Georgia's capital punishment statute, and by implication all other state death-penalty laws, was so arbitrary and capricious as to violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment."

Furman effectively, if temporarily, halted capital punishment in the United States. Every death row inmate across the nation was resentenced to life in prison. The decision, however, did not rule the death penalty per se to be unconstitutional; rather, it struck down the laws that currently governed its application, leaving the states free to devise new ones that the Court might find acceptable. And this is exactly what happened. In the coming years, the Supreme Court would uphold an avalanche of state legislation endorsing the death penalty. Capital punishment would return stronger than ever, with many more defendants sentenced to death and eventually executed.

Oshinsky demonstrates the troubling roles played by race and class and region in capital punishment. And he concludes by considering the most recent Supreme Court death-penalty cases involving minors and the mentally ill, as well as the impact of international opinion. Compact and engaging, Oshinsky's masterful study reflects a gift for empathy, an eye for the telling anecdote and portrait, and a talent for clarifying the complex and often confusing legal issues surrounding capital punishment.

This book is part of the Landmark Law Cases and American Society series.

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OSHA blocking "Stand-Down" the prevention of accidents, construction of Georgia

In an effort to reduce the construction accidents neighbour and OSHA in the Southeastern area, with local suppliers, and federal, State and local agencies through Georgia to hold early in the morning-hour safety "stand-down" in the November 9. Voluntary interruption of work focused on the construction site of injury and the number of fatal accidents caused by workers affected by vehicles or falling objects. "" Affected by accidents "are one of the main causes of injuries and deaths on his buildings.

The partnership, called the "Georgia struck-By Alliance" held on the suspension of voluntary work and workplace safety meet from 7 pm to 8 hours of 1,170 works zones with a total staff participated in the stand-8,056 down. During stand-down, took work area safety training, focused on how employees, while the affected vehicles and construction materials.

Most critical building involvement of workers closed by Heavy Equipment

The main purpose of stand-down was to increase awareness among the staff of this crane and heavy equipment accident are the leading cause of fatal accidents at work and building.

"We want to increase the ability of employees and their occupational risks identified by emphasizing that there was approximately 75 percent of the fatal accidents and includes heavy equipment such as trucks or cranes," he said OSHA regional administrator southeastern Cindy CoE.

To its "Georgia struck-By the Alliance," OSHA operates a number of safety initiatives in the workplace through its programme of the Alliance. Working with trade unions, trade and professional associations, businesses, educational institutions and other groups. OSHA develops effective learning tools and resources to support the health and safety of workers.

Georgia struck-By the Alliance is composed of government organisations and groups, and members of the construction industry. Members include:

OSHA on Southeastern RegionGeorgia Institute TransportationAssociation County Commissioners of InstituteSurveying GeorgiaGeorgia PowerGeorgia Tech research and mapping company GeorgiaFederal Highway Administration Georgia DivisionAssociated external staff of America Georgia BranchGeorgia tool AssociationGeorgia road Contractors Contractors Association3M visibility and isolation SolutionsLamar tags

"This Alliance is the initiative and show leadership in the Organization of and conduct this safety stand-down industry, as well as in the whole of Georgia to stress the importance of safety of workers in the field of work," said CoE.

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