In what circumstances will the US Supreme Court strike down capital punishment statutes that allow juries to determine whether to grant the death penalty?

In Furman v. Georgia (1972) 408 U.S. 238, 92 S.Ct. 2726, 33 L.Ed.2d 346 (per curiam ), the high court, in effect, invalidated capital punishment statutes that allowed sentencers to determine whether to impose death or LWOP without guided discretion, concluding that statutes permitting juries absolute discretion in making the capital sentencing determination resulted in the arbitrary and capricious imposition of the death penalty, in violation of the Eighth Amendment. (Sumner, supra, 483 U.S. at p. 70, 107 S.Ct. 2716.) Some states responded by making the death penalty mandatory, thereby obviating the need for sentencers to exercise discretion. (Id. at p. 71, 107 S.Ct. 2716.) For example, North Carolina responded by enacting a law that mandated the death penalty for all first degree murder convictions.

[197 Cal.Rptr.3d 730]

(Woodson, supra, 428 U.S. at p. 286, 96 S.Ct. 2978.)