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In Woodson v. North Carolina, 428 U.S. 280 (1976), the issue before the Supreme Court was whether a North Carolina law that made the death penalty mandatory for all convicted first-degree murderers was constitutional. The Court found that this law was unconstitutional because it violated the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments. The Eighth Amendment specifically provides, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The Fourteenth Amendment provides, in pertinent part, “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law.”

-The Court provided three main reasons for finding the law unconstitutional: (1) the law “depart[ed] markedly from contemporary standards concerning death sentences;” (2) the law provided no standards to guide juries in their exercise of “the power to determine which first-degree murderers shall live and which shall die;” and (3) the law failed to allow consideration of the character and record of individual defendants before inflicting the death penalty.

-Assume the role of Justice Stewart (the justice who wrote the plurality opinion in this case) and fully explain each of the three reasons for finding the law unconstitutional. Include in your answer/opinion the following concepts: cruel and unusual punishment; mitigating factors; aggravating factors; and victim impact statements. Use other concepts and case law s to bolster your explanation and analysis