Roberts v. Louisiana

Mr. Justice White, with whom The Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Blackmun, and Mr. Justice Rehnquist join,

dissenting.

Under the Louisiana statutes in effect prior to 1973, there were three grades of criminal homicide — murder, manslaughter, and negligent homicide. La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14:29 (1951). Murder was punishable by death, La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 14:30 (1951); but a jury finding a defendant guilty of murder was empowered to foreclose the death penalty by returning a verdict of “guilty without capital punishment.” La. Rev. Stat. Ann. § 15:409 (1951). Following Furman v. Georgia, 408 U. S. 238…