Beard v. Banks

Summary

The Supreme Court held that the rule announced in Mills v. Maryland, prohibiting capital sentencing schemes that require juries to disregard mitigating factors not found unanimously, did not apply retroactively to Banks on federal habeas corpus review. The Court concluded Mills announced a new rule under Teague v. Lane and did not fall within either exception to Teague's nonretroactivity principle. Justice Souter, dissenting, would have applied the rule due to its importance for accuracy in capital sentencing.