The Court ruled that mandatory statutes that required imposition of the death penalty upon conviction of certain crimes were __________, but it approved statutes that provided juries with aggravating and mitigating circumstances to guide their sentencing discretion.

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The Court ruled that mandatory statutes requiring the imposition of the death penalty were unconstitutional as they violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. However, the Court approved of statutes that provided juries with the discretion to take into account aggravating and mitigating circumstances when deciding on a sentence, which constituted a constitutional approach to the death penalty.

The Court Ruled That Mandatory Statutes That Required Imposition of the Death