#cruel-and-unusual-punishment

#cruel-and-unusual-punishment

The court declares certain crimes to be " per se grave or serious," which in practice means that no one convicted of such crimes can ever challenge their sentence, no matter its severity. Colorado's state constitution prohibits "cruel and unusual" punishment, including excessive or "disproportionate" prison terms. To assess excessive punishment claims, Colorado courts begin by comparing "the gravity or seriousness of the offense to the harshness of the penalty." Normally, Colorado case law takes a relatively capacious view of how a crime's "gravity" should be measured.