Search Results for proportionality

...Carol S. Steiker; Jordan M. Steiker © The Ohio State University Graham Lets the Sun Shine In: The Supreme Court Opens a Window Between Two Formerly Walled-Off Approaches to Eighth Amendment Proportionality Challenges Two years ago, we wrote an article cautioning advocates of death penalty...

...Robert J. McWhirter © The Ohio State University A Breath of Fresh Proportionality: Sentencing in Aggravated Felon Re-entry Cases Under the 2001 Guideline I. Introduction Uncharacteristically, the Federal Sentencing Commission alleviated the harsh effects of an unfair sentencing guideline...

.... Judges are concerned that a statewide database will undercut the very values that uphold their authority as sentencing judges. When sentencing, judges want to maintain discretion, value proportionality, and honor local norms. After sentencing, judges don’t want to be pigeonholed or scapegoated. Any...

... a statistical survey, he was right. Federal sentencing practice is in chaos. The fundamental goals of the guidelines—uniformity, proportionality, and certainty—have been undermined. Nonetheless, this does not mean the guidelines should be abandoned or a wholesale redrafting is required. As it turns out...

..., the proportionality of the restitution amount relative to the gravity of the offense, relying on the anti-ruination principle in determining excessiveness. © The Ohio State University Restitution Sixth Amendment jury Eighth Amendment excessive punishment Punishment Through Restitution CORTNEY E. LOLLAR...

... prison sentences as an abdication of the Court s constitutional responsibility to protect politically powerless criminal defendants from excessive penalties.2 At a minimum, Kennedy s opinion suggests a more unified approach to proportionality review, in place of the Court s previous two-track distinction...

..., for the first time, the test for proportionality used in capital cases. Both the result and the methodology of the decision are historic and certainly of great significance to the offenders who fall within its terms. But a critical question remains: What will the case mean to Eighth Amendment jurisprudence...

... of the law and in finding solutions to problems in sentencing which have no express answer in legislation. A. Preserving Proportionality in Sentencing The rationale established by the proposed bill confers decisive weight to the principle of proportionality between the seriousness of the offence...

... it revives punishment doctrine on two issues that have lain dormant since Harmelin v. Michigan4: proportionality and individualized sentencing. Although it doesn t overrule Harmelin, by recognizing the continued vitality of Weems5 and Solem6 the Graham decision appears to acknowledge that the Court s...

... committed by a minor,1 the Supreme Court s proportionality jurisprudence under the Eighth Amendment proceeded along two tracks capital and noncapital, with the two tracks applying different tests and leading to different outcomes.2 Graham s ruling changed all that. Without much fanfare, the Graham Court...

... of punishments on proportionality grounds makes many of us uneasy. The concept of proportionality between crime and punishment seems too vague and indeterminate, an invitation to imposition of subjective views of federal judges, as Justice Scalia warned.5 Without doubt, the question of how much punishment...

... of funds. 2 That may have been an overstatement. The Court seems disinclined to ll the term proportionality with robust meaning or wrestle with Eighth Amendment challenges to nes and fees. Those steps would be required for the Excessive Fines Clause to function as an effective backstop against...

... from an offense-specific penalty range, which must be proportionate to individual guilt and the seriousness of the offense.1 The maximum prison sentence threatened for the most serious felonies is 15 years. Only first degree murder carries a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment. Rehabilitation...

... by several circuits requiring nonGuidelines sentences to be supported by justifications proportionate to the size of the deviation.5 The Court explained that such a proportionality requirement would overly interfere with district court discretion in sentencing.6 In doing so, however, the Court also stated...

... and retribution, notwithstanding that earlier crimes have been punished4 Thus the Report does not come to its position with respect to the use of criminal record by abandoning proportional sentencing in the pursuit of utilitarianism, but rather by coining a new version of proportionality. Under this revised...

... offenses with no aggravating circumstances.6 We recommend adoption of this proposal to enhance fairness and ensure proportionality of drug offense levels as compared to crimes in which aggravating circumstances, such as bodily injury to other individuals, are inherent in the crime. Second, with respect...

... in noncapital crimes performed a much narrower and less searching kind of review, especially with respect to proportionality questions.13 Summed up quickly, it could be reduced to a single question: Was the punishment grossly disproportionate to the offense (in light of the offender s crime and criminal history...

... for a felony conviction should depend on the seriousness of the crime of conviction when compared to all other crimes and the offender s criminal history19 Washington: The Sentencing Reform Act was designed to ensure that the punishment for a criminal offense is proportionate to the seriousness...

... to count the actual harm the victim suffers relative to the vicious attitude of the attacker, all true retributivists oppose greatly disproportional punishment. II. Proportionality Let the punishment fit the crime : People have mouthed this philosophy for millennia, and seemingly still believe...

... by the government. Much has been written about how mandatory minimums short-circuit the court s obligation to impose a sentence that is proportionate, individualized, and that advances the purposes of punishment. Prosecutors also have a duty to consider their actions in light of the purposes of punishment and avoid...