The People of the State of Colorado, Petitioner v. Michael Quinn Tate, Respondent; Tenarro Banks, Petitioner v. The…

Summary

The court held that mandatory life without parole sentences imposed on juvenile offenders under Colorado's former sentencing scheme violated the Eighth Amendment because they were imposed without individualized consideration of youth and attendant characteristics. For Tate and Banks, the court required resentencing to determine whether life without parole was appropriate and directed that life with parole eligibility after forty years be imposed if it was not. The court also held that the new rule did not apply retroactively to Jensen's final conviction on collateral review. Chief Justice Rice and Justice Coats, concurring in part and dissenting in part, agreed on nonretroactivity but would have rejected the majority's judicially created resentencing procedure.