Stanford v. Kentucky, was a United States Supreme Court case in the year 1989 that sanctioned the imposition of the death penalty on offenders who were at least 16 years of age at the time of the crime.
The Supreme Court in the year 2005,while handling the Roper v. Simmons' case ruled that the death penalty is a disproportionate punishment for juveniles, and thus it violates the Eighth Amendment to impose a death sentence on a youthful murderer who committed the crime before age 18.
Christopher Simmons, who was 17 at the time, committed a crime that led to a death sentence.
The Court said that the society views juveniles as categorically less culpable than the average criminal. The supreme court argued than a man only becomes culpable of any criminal act when he reaches the age of 18, and claimed at imposing a death penalty on a young child who is not old enough to take charge of his own actions is wrong.
The supreme court claimed that a juvenile who committed a heinous crime can be made to forfeit his fundamental rights rather than being murdered.
Answer: Montesquieu
Explanation: Montesquieu called the idea of dividing government power into three branches the “separation of powers.” He thought it most important to create separate branches of government with equal but different powers.
