Relative and Absolute Proportionality
by: Ryan • September 4, 2011 • no comments
At Sentencing Law and Policy blog, a recent post quotes a paper on proportionality under the 8th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Case law on what the paper calls "relative proportionality" is more fully developed under the Oregon Constitution, as evidenced most recently by the Oregon Court of Appeals decision in State v. Simonson.
At 6 Crimes with Proportionality Problems , you'll find a list of as-yet unaddressed issues involving proportionality and Oregon law. Relative proportionality is implicated in charges ranging from Online Sexual Corruption to Theft by Receiving to ID Theft to misdemeanor probation revocations.
You may not need them, but it can't hurt to add a few sentences on the 8th Amendment, if you find the paper referenced at Sentencing Law and Policy blog at all convincing.
