Also known as: proportionality principle · principle of proportionality · proportionality
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
2 senses
A constitutional principle requiring that punishment for crime be graduated and proportioned to the offense. The principle is applied under the Eighth Amendment to assess whether a sentence is excessive by reference to evolving standards of decency and objective factors.
A constitutional principle requiring that punishment for crime be graduated and proportioned to the offense. The principle is applied under the Eighth Amendment to assess whether a sentence is excessive by reference to evolving standards of decency and objective factors.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A requirement that land-use exactions demanded as conditions for permits bear a rough proportionality to the projected impact of the proposed development. The requirement is part of the Nollan/Dolan framework and applies to dedications of property as well as monetary exactions.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
A requirement that land-use exactions demanded as conditions for permits bear a rough proportionality to the projected impact of the proposed development. The requirement is part of the Nollan/Dolan framework and applies to dedications of property as well as monetary exactions.
Each sense below has its own examples, sources, and questions.
Patrick Phan was convicted of a nonviolent felony after a string of minor property offenses. The state imposed a life sentence without parole under a recidivist statute. The court examined whether the sentence was grossly disproportionate to the crime under the Eighth Amendment proportionality precept.
Penelope Price participated in a robbery during which her accomplice killed the victim. She did not intend or commit the killing. The state sought the death penalty. The court assessed whether imposing capital punishment satisfied the proportionality precept given her level of participation and mental state.
Phoebe Park, a Black defendant, was sentenced to death for murder. Statistical evidence showed that defendants who killed white victims received the death penalty far more often. The court considered whether the disparity rendered her sentence disproportionate under the Eighth Amendment.
Pearl Porter was convicted of drug trafficking. The sentencing guidelines required a lengthy term based on judge-found facts. The court examined whether the mandatory application of the guidelines violated the proportionality precept by removing individualized sentencing discretion.
Piper Patel was seventeen when she committed murder. The state sought the death penalty. The court evaluated whether executing a juvenile offender satisfied the proportionality precept in light of evolving standards of decency regarding youth and culpability.
No. The Eighth Amendment does not mandate that state appellate courts compare a death sentence with penalties imposed in similar cases. Comparative proportionality review is not a constitutional prerequisite to imposing the death penalty.
Supporting sources
The death penalty satisfies Eighth Amendment proportionality when the defendant was a major participant in the underlying felony and acted with reckless indifference to human life.
Supporting sources
Modern self-defense doctrine requires that the level of responsive force be proportionate to the threatened harm. Deadly force is justified only when the actor reasonably believes it is immediately necessary to prevent death or serious bodily injury.
Supporting sources
A necessity defense requires that the harm avoided be greater than the harm the criminal statute seeks to prevent. The defense therefore incorporates a proportionality assessment between the two harms.
Supporting sources
Pierre Poulin sought a building permit to expand his commercial property. The city conditioned approval on his payment of a large sum to fund unrelated traffic improvements elsewhere in the district. Poulin refused the payment. The city denied the permit. Because the demanded exaction lacked rough proportionality to the expansion's impact, the denial triggered scrutiny under the exactions doctrine.
Yes. The Nollan/Dolan standards, including the rough-proportionality requirement, apply to demands for monetary exactions as well as dedications of real property.
Supporting sources
…imposed upon a soldier who escaped from an Army stockade and became a deserter for one day. Although the concept of proportionality was not the basis of the holding, the plurality observed in dicta that "[f]ines, imprisonment and even execution may be imposed depending upon the enormity of the crime." 356 U. S., at…