In Gregg v. Georgia (1976), the Court upheld the constitutionality of death-penalty laws that permit a judge or a jury to impose a death sentence only after weighing all of the relevant "aggravating" and "mitigating" factors concerning the defendant's crime and character. In the years following "Gregg," the Court proceeded cautiously, setting strict limits on the applicability of the death penalty by refusing to allow the executions of those who did not actually take another human life and by insisting that judges and juries give due consideration to all mitigating factors in the defendant's conduct and background. Since 1983, however, the Court has taken a much more aggressive and activist approach toward death-penalty cases, rejecting every major constitutional challenge to the fairness of death-penalty laws and sanctioning the execution of 16-year-old offenders, mentally retarded defendants, and those who neither killed nor intended to kill a person. These kinds of decisions make it likely that by the year 2010, both the rate and geographical reach of executions will have expanded significantly. Ironically, however, this increase in executions is likely to convince the American people that the death penalty cannot be administered without error, caprice, and discrimination. Abolitionist movements will gain momentum in an increasing number of States, and the U.S. Supreme Court will declare the death penalty to be unconstitutional by the year 2050 if not sooner. Study questions, 21 notes, 50 references, and 64 cited court cases