Leiden University Student Repository

Snippe, Mick (2022)

States' Rights or Federal Responsibility? The Abolition and Swift Reintroduction of the Death Penalty in 1970s America

Master thesis | North American Studies (MA)

In the 1972 the death penalty was briefly abolished by the Supreme Court case Furman v. Georgia, before swiftly being reintroduced by the Supreme Court in the case Gregg v. Georgia. This thesis argues that in both cases the Supreme Court wanted to protect the states’ autonomy to decide over their criminal justice repertoire, including the death penalty. As a result, the 1972 abolition was easily overruled by the Gregg case that caused the reintroduction. For these cases, states’ rights was a central issue, and both cases could be seen as an early adoption of the 1980s legal philosophy of New Federalism, in which more power was granted to the states that had initially been the responsibility of the federal government. These cases provide a clear look into the issue of states’ rights and their link to Supreme Court challenges during 1970s America.

Death Penalty

Capital Punishment

American Studies

Supreme Court

States' Rights

New Federalism

Author

Snippe, Mick

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Supervisors

Pargas, D.
Scott-Smith, G.

ECTS Credits

20

Language

en