Sentencing - Term Paper Example

Contextually, there are various considerations and provisions under the aforementioned clause, wherein courts are required to perform a review of every case in relation to proportionality (Gardner & Anderson, 2011). The major considerations and provisions that are included in proportionality in the US Courts are as follows. The magnitude of the crime committed and the severity of the punishment sentenced Sentences that are enforced for identical criminal acts in similar jurisdictions Sentences that are enforced for identical criminal acts in relation to other jurisdictions Source: (Gardner & Anderson, 2011) The principle of proportionality came into practice following the case rule in Solem v.

Helm, 463 U.S. 227 (1983) and subsequently, the Supreme Court of the US implemented the procedures in accordance with which proportionality amid crime and penalty were to be evaluated. The case of Pulley v. Harris, 1984 can also be regarded as a landmark case in the history of developing the principle of proportionality by the US Supreme Court Gardner & Anderson, 2011). . Contextually, there are certain groups of individuals who cannot be offered with the death punishment sentence. These individuals include defendants who are (i) mentally retarded or insane, or (ii) are juveniles under 18 years of age and (iii) defendants who are found to be guilty in aiding a felony act but restrains from committing a homicide or a similar category of felony themselves (Gardner & Anderson, 2011).

For an example, in the case of Graham v. Florida (No. 08-7412) (2010), the delivered judgment advocated that Graham (the defendant) committed robbery and armed burglary crimes. Later, Graham was charged with additional crimes and accordingly, the trial court canceled his probation terms, convicting him with life imprisonment punishment sentence. Graham then appealed and charged against his sentences under ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause’. Contextually, in accordance with the principle of the clause, because Graham was a juvenile, it was ruled that he could not be sentenced with life imprisonment of death penalty without parole in case of non-homicide crime (Cornell University Law School, 2010).

The ‘Cruel and Unusual Punishment Clause’, under the provisions of the US Supreme Court, also states that mentally retarded people or insane convicts cannot be deemed eligible to be punished with death sentence, but can be or life imprisonment [Ford v. Wainwright (No. 85-5542) 752 F.2d 526, reversed and remanded] (Cornell University Law School, n.d.). As mentioned above, the principle also prohibits the US courts from delivering a death sentence to a convict who is found guilty to aid and/or abet a homicide crime or equivalent criminal offence(s) but is not directly responsible for the committed crime [Enmund v.

Florida (No. 81-5321) 399 So.2d