Fowler v. North Carolina

Background

The person at the center of this case was sentenced to death and asked the nation’s highest court to review that sentence. Lawyers for the person and for the State of North Carolina argued the case, and the United States and several outside groups filed supporting briefs. The opinion notes related argument in Woodson v. North Carolina and records that the Court agreed to hear the matter.

Reasoning

The Court addressed whether imposing and carrying out the death penalty in this particular case violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment and the Fourteenth Amendment. The Court concluded that, as applied here, the death penalty did constitute cruel and unusual punishment. The decision says the judgment must be vacated to the extent it left the death penalty in place, and directs that the case be returned to the Supreme Court of North Carolina for further proceedings.

Real world impact

The immediate practical effect is that the death sentence in this case cannot stand as it was and the State must take further steps in its courts. The ruling changes the outcome for the person sentenced to death in this case and requires additional proceedings in North Carolina. Because the Court sent the matter back, the final result may change depending on what happens next in the state courts.