Coker v. Georgia.

[Fed. Pac. Chairman Devin]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coker_v._Georgia

[Kaine for Senate '18]

Probably have joined Powell's concurrence, maybe Burger's dissent.

[Sol]

Brennan's concurrence.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Probably have joined Powell's concurrence, maybe Burger's dissent.

"I have strong opinions. I'm firmly for or against it."

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Definitely Burger's dissent or maybe even written a stronger one.  Eighth Amendment jurisprudence is definitely an area that I feel SCOTUS has messed up.  The whole history of the "cruel and unusual" phrase that goes back to the English Bill of Civil Rights indicates that the Eighth Amendment should not be taken as a limit on legislative branch to decide what punishments are appropriate but on the judicial branch in handing out punishments and the executive branch in deciding what punishments are to be sought.  Thus the whole question of whether capital punishment is an appropriate punishment for rape (or any other crime) is one to be answered exclusively by the legislative branch. Judicial review under the Eighth Amendment is thus properly limited to whether selective application of punishments is occurring or if punishments are being carried out in a manner crueler than the legislative branch intended. (Hence, for example judicial orders to relieve prison overcrowding are warranted under the Eighth Amendment.)

[H.E. VOLODYMYR ZELENKSYY]

Brennan's concurrence - the death penalty is a horror.

[Bojack Horseman]

While the death penalty is in and of itself constitutional, in this case, it is excessive for the crime.

[politicallefty]

To be fair, there was no majority opinion. It was a plurality opinion.

I'd have signed on with Justice Brennan's concurrence. Even if the death penalty itself isn't per se unconstitutional, I think it is definitely unconstitutional as it has been applied. I'm not sure it can be applied in a manner that would be consistent with the equal protection guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment. However, that starts to go into McCleskey v. Kemp, which I think was wrongly decided.