![CAHSS Intellectual Conversations](../../../../assets/md5images/63104d02da691a33e2f5e037cf385144.png)
Academic Year 2012-2013
Event Title
‘Excessive,’ ‘Unnecessary,’ and ‘Shocking to [the] Conscience’: Thurgood Marshall’s Unending Fight Against the Death Penalty
Location
Alvin Sherman Library, Second Floor Gallery
Start Date
18-10-2012 12:00 PM
End Date
18-10-2012 1:00 PM
Disciplines
African American Studies | Inequality and Stratification | Law and Race | Race and Ethnicity
Description
Thurgood Marshall opposed the death penalty. As the only Supreme Court justice to have litigated a death-penalty case, Marshall knew firsthand the “extraordinary unfairness that ... surrounds the administration of the death penalty.” This knowledge made Marshall a dedicated foe of capital punishment. Whether in the majority or (more often) in dissent, Marshall consistently ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. For Marshall, the matter was clear-cut and obvious: the death penalty was “an excessive and unnecessary punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment.” This talk will explore Marshall’s death penalty jurisprudence, describing his unsuccessful 20-year fight to end capital punishment in America.
![](http://nsuworks.nova.edu/far_fls_headshots/1014/fullsize.jpg)
‘Excessive,’ ‘Unnecessary,’ and ‘Shocking to [the] Conscience’: Thurgood Marshall’s Unending Fight Against the Death Penalty
Alvin Sherman Library, Second Floor Gallery
Thurgood Marshall opposed the death penalty. As the only Supreme Court justice to have litigated a death-penalty case, Marshall knew firsthand the “extraordinary unfairness that ... surrounds the administration of the death penalty.” This knowledge made Marshall a dedicated foe of capital punishment. Whether in the majority or (more often) in dissent, Marshall consistently ruled the death penalty unconstitutional. For Marshall, the matter was clear-cut and obvious: the death penalty was “an excessive and unnecessary punishment that violates the Eighth Amendment.” This talk will explore Marshall’s death penalty jurisprudence, describing his unsuccessful 20-year fight to end capital punishment in America.