Posted by
Defend America on Monday, June 29, 2009 6:50:27 AM
1953 - The Federal Highway Act authorized the construction of
42,500 miles of freeway from coast to coast.
June 29,
1972
Supreme Court strikes down death penalty
In Furman v. Georgia,
the U.S. Supreme Court rules by a vote of 5-4 that capital punishment,
as it is currently employed on the state and federal level, is
unconstitutional. The majority held that, in violation of the Eighth
Amendment to the Constitution, the death penalty qualified as "cruel
and unusual punishment," primarily because states employed execution in
"arbitrary and capricious ways," especially in regard to race. It was
the first time that the nation's highest court had ruled against
capital punishment. However, because the Supreme Court suggested new
legislation that could make death sentences constitutional again, such
as the development of standardized guidelines for juries that decide
sentences, it was not an outright victory for opponents of the death
penalty.
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history.do?action=Article&id=5134