Also known as: proportionate · proportionately · proportional · proportionality principle · proportionality test
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
3 senses
A limit on the scope of discovery requiring that requested information be proportional to the needs of the case. The assessment weighs the importance of the issues, the amount in controversy, the parties' relative access to information, their resources, the importance of the discovery for resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense outweighs the likely benefit.
A limit on the scope of discovery requiring that requested information be proportional to the needs of the case. The assessment weighs the importance of the issues, the amount in controversy, the parties' relative access to information, their resources, the importance of the discovery for resolving the issues, and whether the burden or expense outweighs the likely benefit.
Prime Logistics sues Progressive Healthcare for breach of a supply agreement seeking millions in damages. Progressive requests production of every email sent by Prime's 200 employees over five years. The court denies the request because the volume of material is disproportionate to the needs of the case given the modest amount in controversy and the availability of more targeted searches.
A requirement that government-imposed permit conditions or exactions bear a rough proportionality to the projected impact of a proposed development. The government must demonstrate that the nature and extent of the demanded dedication or payment matches the burden the development will create.
Phoebe Park seeks a permit to enlarge her retail store. The city conditions approval on her dedicating a strip of land for a public bike path. The city fails to show that the path dedication is roughly proportional to the traffic impact of the modest expansion, so the condition is struck down as an unconstitutional exaction.
A constitutional limit on punishment requiring that the sentence be proportionate to the gravity of the offense and the culpability of the offender. Courts examine whether the penalty is grossly disproportionate under the Eighth Amendment.
Paul Peterson faces an unarmed intruder who shoves him. Peterson responds by striking the intruder repeatedly with a baseball bat. The force used threatens serious bodily harm that exceeds what is proportional to the threat, so the privilege of self-defense does not apply.
Patrick Phan is convicted of a firearms offense. The judge increases the sentence beyond the statutory maximum after finding that the offense was committed with racial bias. The enhancement violates the requirement that any fact increasing the penalty must be found by a jury, undermining proportionality safeguards.
A requirement that government-imposed permit conditions or exactions bear a rough proportionality to the projected impact of a proposed development. The government must demonstrate that the nature and extent of the demanded dedication or payment matches the burden the development will create.
A constitutional limit on punishment requiring that the sentence be proportionate to the gravity of the offense and the culpability of the offender. Courts examine whether the penalty is grossly disproportionate under the Eighth Amendment.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Discovery must be proportional to the needs of the case after weighing six enumerated factors including the amount in controversy and the burden of production. Information need not be admissible to be discoverable if it meets the proportionality test.
Pilar Pena applies for a permit to build a small commercial building. The city refuses the permit unless she pays a large sum into a public art fund. Because the payment demand lacks rough proportionality to the project's impact, the refusal constitutes an unconstitutional taking.
The government must show that the exaction is roughly proportional in nature and extent to the projected impact of the development. Individualized findings are required rather than general assertions.
In self-defense the actor may use only the degree of force that is proportional to the threatened harm and may not intend or risk serious bodily harm when lesser force would suffice. In takings the government must prove rough proportionality between the demanded condition and the development's impact.
Parker Phillips is convicted of his seventh nonviolent felony involving a small check forgery. The state imposes life imprisonment without parole under a recidivist statute. The sentence is grossly disproportionate to the crime and violates the Eighth Amendment.
The principle applies under the Eighth Amendment to prevent grossly disproportionate sentences, particularly life sentences for minor nonviolent offenses. Courts compare the gravity of the offense to the severity of the penalty.
…broad statement was dictum, for the law under review also provided that "[a]ll landowners in the district have the right to a proportionate share of the water." Id. , at 162. Thus, the "public" did have the right to use the irrigation ditch because all similarly situated members of the public—those who owned lands irrigated by…