Gregg v. Georgia (1976) Definition

A U.S. Supreme Court case holding that the death penalty for murder was not, in all cases, a cruel and unusual punishment prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.

Gregg is significant because, among other things, it ended the nationwide moratorium on capital punishment that resulted from Furman v. Georgia, 408 U.S. 238 (1972). The Gregg Court found that procedural and substantive safeguards enacted by Georgia after Furman provided sufficient assurances that the death penalty wouldn't be applied arbitrarily and capriciously.