Which case found that Georgia's imposition of the death penalty for the crime of rape was grossly disproportionate and thus a violation of the Eighth Amendment's ban on cruel and unusual punishment?

• A. Coker v. Georgia (1977)
• B. Gregg v. Georgia (1976)
• C. Furman v. Georgia (1972)
• D. Chandler v. Miller (1997)

Answer: (A)

The central idea here is proportionality under the Eighth Amendment: the punishment must fit the crime, and the death penalty should be reserved for the most serious offenses. In Coker v. Georgia, the Supreme Court held that imposing the death penalty for raping an adult woman, when the crime did not result in death or serious physical injury, is grossly disproportionate to the offense. Because rape, by itself, was not considered among the most severe crimes deserving execution, the punishment violated the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. The Court noted that evolving standards of decency do not support capital punishment for mere rape, and it allowed life imprisonment without the possibility of parole as a constitutionally appropriate alternative.

To place this in context, Furman v. Georgia (1972) struck down existing death penalty schemes as applied due to arbitrary discretion, leading to revised statutes that Gregg v. Georgia (1976) then upheld in some cases. Chandler v. Miller (1997) deals with a different issue entirely and does not involve capital punishment. The case that fits the description—restricting the death penalty for the crime of rape—is Coker v. Georgia.