## Facts

- Robert Page Anderson was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder of three men, and first-degree robbery.
- A jury fixed the penalty for the murder conviction at death.
- After prior appellate proceedings and a retrial limited to penalty, a new jury again imposed the death penalty.
- Anderson’s renewed death judgment came to the California Supreme Court on automatic appeal.
- Anderson challenged penalty-phase procedures and argued that capital punishment is unconstitutional under the California and U.S. Constitutions.

## Issues

1. Whether capital punishment violates article I, section 6 of the California Constitution, which forbids “cruel or unusual punishment.”
2. If not barred by the California Constitution, whether capital punishment violates the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on “cruel and unusual punishments.”

## Decision

- The California Supreme Court held that capital punishment is both “cruel” and “unusual” within the meaning of article I, section 6 of the California Constitution.
- The court modified the judgment to impose life imprisonment instead of death and otherwise affirmed the judgment.
- Because the case was resolved on independent state constitutional grounds, the court found it unnecessary to decide the federal Eighth Amendment issue.

## Legal Principles

- Article I, section 6’s “cruel or unusual” language may provide broader protection than the federal “cruel and unusual” standard, and the state constitution may be interpreted independently.
- In evaluating whether a punishment is “cruel or unusual,” the court considers contemporary standards of decency rather than treating constitutional meaning as fixed.
- The death penalty may be unconstitutional where it (1) degrades human dignity through state-inflicted destruction of life and the associated death-row experience, (2) is excessively severe and unnecessary to achieve legitimate penological purposes when lesser punishments can protect society, and (3) is administered so infrequently and selectively that it operates arbitrarily and is susceptible to discriminatory application.

## Conclusion

The California Supreme Court invalidated capital punishment under the state constitution’s “cruel or unusual punishment” clause, reduced Anderson’s death sentence to life imprisonment, and declined to reach the federal constitutional question.


People v. Anderson, 6 Cal. 3d 628, 493 P.2d 880 (Cal. 1972)