Coker v. Georgia (amicus) Historic Case

At a Glance

Date Filed: 

1977

Case Description 

Coker v. Georgia is a lawsuit in which the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) submitted an amicus brief to the Supreme Court, together with a broad range of other women's legal organizations, on the unconstitutionality of the death penalty for rape.

CCR was cognizant that rape prosecution abuses also ran against the accused. The brief traced the sexist and racist history of the death penalty for rape in the Deep South, where it was established by white men to protect their "property" from violation by others, typically Black men.