Stanford v. Kentucky

In declaring that neither the framers of the Constitution nor contemporary society regarded a death sentence as cruel and unusual punishment for someone who was almost 18 years old at the time he committed murder, the Court lowered the barrier to capital punishment. After Stanford, states could impose the death penalty on anyone over the age of 16.

On 7 January 1981, Kevin Stanford was 17 years, four months old. That night, he and an accomplice repeatedly raped and sodomized 20-year-old Barbel Poore during a robbery of the gas station where she worked as an attendant. After taking 300 cartons of cigarettes, two gallons of fuel, and a small amount of cash, Stanford and his accomplice drove with Poore to a secluded area, where Stanford shot Poore point blank in the face and then in the back of the head.

After Stanford was arrested, a Kentucky juvenile court conducted a hearing to determine whether or not he should be tried as an adult. A state law provided that anyone charged with a capital crime, or who was over the age of 16 and charged with a felony, could be tried as an adult. Because of the seriousness of Stanford's crime and his long record of juvenile arrests, the juvenile court certified him for trial as an adult.

Stanford was convicted of murder, sodomy, first-degree robbery, and receiving stolen goods. He was sentenced to death plus 45 years in jail. The Kentucky Supreme Court affirmed this decision, citing the numerous failed attempts to treat or reform Stanford. Claiming that his death sentence amounted to unconstitutional cruel and unusual punishment, Stanford appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.