McGautha v. California

McGautha v. California
Supreme Court of the United States
Argued November 9, 1970 Decided May 3, 1971
Full case name	McGautha v. California
Citations	402 U.S. 183 (more) 91 S. Ct. 1454; 28 L. Ed. 2d 711; 1971 U.S. LEXIS 107
Court membership
Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Associate Justices Hugo Black · William O. Douglas John M. Harlan II · William J. Brennan, Jr Potter Stewart · Byron White Thurgood Marshall · Harry Blackmun
Case opinions
Majority	Harlan, joined by Burger, Stewart, White, Blackmun
Concurrence	Black
Dissent	Douglas, joined by Brennan, Marshall
Dissent	Brennan, joined by Douglas, Marshall

McGautha v. California, 402 U.S. 183 (1971) is a United States Supreme Court case in which the Court held that the accused's rights were not infringed by imposition of the death penalty without governing standards.

McGautha was overruled one year later by Furman v. Georgia, which held that sentencing discretion must be narrowed "so as to minimize the risk of wholly arbitrary and capricious action."

External links

• Text of the opinion from justia.com