NCJ Number
116867
Journal
Iowa Law Review Volume: 73 Issue: 3 Dated: (1988) Pages: 719-742
Date Published
1988
Length
23 pages
Annotation
Proportionality review is a means of comparing death sentence cases in order to safeguard the defendant against arbitrary decisions.
Abstract
Proportionality review (PR) was initiated by State legislatures as a constitutional safeguard against excessive or disproportionate death sentences. The State courts define a 'universe' of potentially similar cases with fact patterns for comparison. Some States see it as judicial initiative for the purpose of ensuring fairness while others see it as a defendant's option. But there are limitations in defining a universe of potentially similar cases in death sentences. For example, Nebraska had 182 homicides, 13 of which resulted in death sentences and 96 in life sentences. However, expanding the universe may not fully serve the goal either. Yet a review does not permit the judicial system to serve as a check against aberrant actions of a prosecutor. The national center for state courts PR program has developed recommendations with the guidance of attorneys, technical consultants, and court personnel that emphasize the need to organize a data base in order to recall similar cases in an efficient manner. Several arbitrary or freakish impositions of the death penalty have been avoided as a result of the implementation of PR. 179 notes.