The imposition of capital punishment on an individual for a crime committed at 16 or 17 years of age does not constitute cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. (Overruled by Roper v. Simmons (2005)) Decided June 26, 1989 (argued March 7, 1989). Opinion of the Court: Antonin Scalia → go there Dissenting: Brennan. Overruled by {{ussc Applied: the Eighth Amendment → go there Applied: the Fourteenth Amendment → go there Topic: Capital punishment. Stanford v. Kentucky, 492 U.S. 361 (1989), was a United States Supreme Court case that sanctioned the imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were at least 16 years of age at the time of the crime. This decision came one year after Thompson v. Oklahoma, in which the Court had held that a 15-year-old offender could not be executed because to do so would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Wiki link