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Gregg v. Georgia was a United States Supreme Court case that started on March 31, 1976 and concluded on July 2 of the same year. The case upheld the use of the death penalty in the United States. Troy Leon Gregg and a partner Floyd Allen, who were hitchhiking in Florida, were picked up by Fred Simmons and Bob Moore who were traveling north. Their car broke down, so Simmons bought another car with some spare cash. Where they then picked up Dennis Weaver, who they took to Atlanta until he was let out around 11 p.m. Shortly after the four men stopped off at a rest stop. Sometime in between that and the next morning, Gregg and Allen robbed and murdered Simmons and Moore. Weaver saw in an Atlanta newspaper that two men were robbed and murdered, so he reported to the police that he had a good idea who did it. The next day, Allen and Gregg were arrested after being found in Asheville, N.C. in the victims car. After receiving the warnings required by Miranda v. Arizona, 384 U.S. 436 (1966), and signing a written waiver of his rights, the petitioner signed a statement in which he admitted shooting, then robbing Simmons and Moore. However, Gregg claimed the murders were on the basis of self defense. The suspects were then taken to the scene of the crime were they recalled what happened that night. According to Gregg, the two victims attacked the suspects with a knife and pipe. Simmons died from a gunshot to the eye, and Moore died from gunshots to the cheek and back of the head.

The Georgia jury found Gregg guilty of two counts of armed robbery and two counts of murder, and sentenced him to death. However, the case went on to the Supreme Court.

Ruling
Gregg, despite the fact that the judge did not necessarily agree with the death penalty being considered, was death. The judge told the jury that the death penalty shouldn't be considered unless they found one of these three to be true. 1. That the offense of murder was committed while the offender was engaged in the commission of two other capital felonies. 2. That the offender committed the offense of murder for the purpose of receiving money and the automobile described in the indictment. 3. The offense of murder was outrageously and wantonly vile, horrible and inhuman. Although Gregg argued that receiving the death penalty in case was "cruel and unusual" according to the Eighth Amendment, and also in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment, the United States Supreme Court still found him guilty and upheld his death sentence. The justices involved were Thurgood Marshall, Byron White, Warren Burger, William Brennan, Potter Stewart, Harry Blackmun, Lewis Powell, William Rehnquist, and John Stevens. They voted 7-2 in favor of the death penalty in certain cases that involved deliberate killings, such as the killings in this case. Brennan and Marshall were the only two to vote against this.

Affects on Society
The ruling reaffirmed the death penalty in the United States, and currently there are 34 states that use capital punishment.

Opinions
In most recent polls only around one-third of voters believe that capital punishment should be used. By some estimates, almost a quarter of those who do not believe in the death penalty indicate that the issue could even influence who they were to vote for in a public election. And in a 1995 poll of police chiefs, only 1% of the chiefs said that expanding the death penalty would be the most effective way to combat crime.

Principles of Government
Popular sovereignty is involved in this case because the death penalty has the right to be voted on whether its allowed. Gregg would argue that his individual rights were not upheld. However, the rights of those he murdered were. Another interesting issue regarding principles of government and this Supreme Court case is that of the separation of powers. Some would say that the Supreme Court occasionally over steps it's bounds, but in this case it is fair to say that it did not.