Cite as: 507 U. S. 463 (1993)
Opinion of the Court
Although the question is close, we believe the Osborn construction satisfies this narrowing requirement. The class of murderers eligible for capital punishment under Idaho law is defined broadly to include all first-degree murderers. Idaho Code § 18-4004 (1987). And the category of first-degree murderers is also broad. It includes premeditated murders and those carried out by means of poison, lying in wait, or certain kinds of torture. § 18-4003(a). In addition, murders that otherwise would be classified as second degree, § 18-4003(g)—including homicides committed without "considerable provocation" or under circumstances demonstrating "an abandoned and malignant heart" (a term of art that refers to unintentional homicide committed with extreme recklessness, see American Law Institute, Model Penal Code § 210.2(1)(b) Comment, n. 4 (1980)), Idaho Code §§ 18-4001, 18-4002 (1987)—become first degree if they are accompanied by one of a number of enumerated circumstances. For example, murders are classified as first degree when the victim is a fellow prison inmate, § 18-4003(e), or a law enforcement or judicial officer performing official duties, § 18-4003(b); when the defendant is already serving a sentence for murder, § 18-4003(c); and when the murder occurs during a prison escape, § 18-4003(f), or the commission or attempted commission of arson, rape, robbery, burglary, kidnaping, or mayhem, § 18-4003(d). In other words, a sizable class of even those murderers who kill with some provocation or without specific intent may receive the death penalty under Idaho law.
We acknowledge that, even within these broad categories, the word "pitiless," standing alone, might not narrow the class of defendants eligible for the death penalty. A sentencing judge might conclude that every first-degree murderer is "pitiless," because it is difficult to imagine how a person with any mercy or compassion could kill another human being without justification. Given the statutory scheme, however, we believe that a sentencing judge reason-
475
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