In Furman v. Georgia, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 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.

TIM MAGUIRE

Goodman’s bands started the careers
of many jazz musicians. During an era
of racial segregation, he led one of the
first integrated jazz groups. Benny
Goodman (known as “The King of
Swing”), performed nearly to the end
of his life while exploring an interest
in classical music.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg (Joan Ruth Bader)
(March 15, 1933 – September 18, 2020)

Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a jurist who served as an
associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United
States from 1993 until her death from Cancer.

   
    
     
           SANDY KOZEL

On this day in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws that had
been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case
(Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion. The Court ruled, in a 7-2 decision, that
a woman’s right to choose an abortion was protected by the privacy rights guaranteed by the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. 

This is a 1972 photo of the United States Supreme court who decided on Roe
V. Wade. From left, front row : Associate Justice Potter Stewart; William O. Douglas;Chief Justice Warren Berger, Associate Justice William J. Brennan Jr.
and Byron A. White. Back row: Associate Justice Lewis F. Powell Jr.;Thurgood 
Marshall; Harry A. Blackmun; and William H. Rehnquist. (AP)

Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973)

Lyndon Johnson, often referred to by the initials LBJ, was an American
politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from
1963 to 1969. Formerly the 37th vice president from 1961 to 1963, he
assumed the presidency following the assassination of President John
F. Kennedy.

ROSS SIMPSON

Steven Allan Spielberg is 73  years old today.

Filmmaker Steven Spielberg is considered one of the founding
pioneers of the New Hollywood era and one of the most popular
directors and producers in film history. He started in Hollywood
directing television and several minor theatrical releases,
becoming a household name as the director of Jaws (1975).