proportionality

58 cases — ← All topics

Case Title Lower Court Docketed Status Flags Tags Question Presented
25-6678 Isaac Ramirez Rodriguez v. Virginia Virginia 2026-01-30 Pending Response WaivedIFP constitutional-law cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment mandatory-minimum proportionality sentencing Are the mandatory minimum life sentence provisions of Virginia Code §§ 18.2-61(B)(2) and 18.2-67.2(B)(2) unconstitutional as constituting Cruel and Un…
25-279 Matthew Wood v. New Mexico New Mexico 2025-09-10 Denied Response Waived criminal-sentencing due-process eighth-amendment felony-murder fourteenth-amendment proportionality Where a defendant is not convicted of the predicate offense, does a conviction for first-degree felony murder comport with due process under the Fourt…
24-7494 Jesse Lavadis Crawford v. Michigan Michigan 2025-06-25 Denied IFP asset-seizure circuit-court drug-transaction due-process post-deprivation-hearing proportionality 1. Whether there was a "Palpable-Error" by which, the court and the parties have been misled, and a different disposition will result by a correction …
24-7172 Erick Alfredo Peralta v. Texas Texas 2025-05-12 Denied IFP capital-murder criminal-sentencing eighth-amendment life-without-parole proportionality texas-penal-code Does the Eighth Amendment prohibit sentences which are disproportionate? If so, is Life Without Parole disproportionate for a capital murder convict…
24A595 Wayne Sellers, IV v. Colorado Colorado 2024-12-17 Presumed Complete criminal-culpability eighth-amendment felony-murder life-without-parole proportionality youth-sentencing Question not identified.
24-5481 Cody Mercure v. United States First Circuit 2024-09-06 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure eighth-amendment federal-sentencing judicial-review proportionality sentencing-guidelines Did the sentence of three hundred months violate the grossly disproportionate protection afforded by the unusual sentence prohibition under the Eighth…
24-55 Montana v. Robert Murray Gibbons Montana 2024-07-18 Denied eighth-amendment excessive-fines-clause financial-burden financial-circumstances mandatory-fine mandatory-fines proportionality proportionality-factors sentencing sentencing-discretion Whether the Excessive Fines Clause requires the sentencing judge to consider a defendant's personal financial circumstances and the nature of the burd…
24-5065 Damon John Broussard v. Lousiana Louisiana 2024-07-12 Denied IFP constitutional-law constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment proportionality sentencing Does Petitioner's, harsh and unprecendented, sentence of fourty years, without benefits, constitute cruel and unusual punishment, in violation of th…
23-6824 Jeremiah James Lynch v. United States Eighth Circuit 2024-02-26 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP civil-rights constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment parole proportionality sentencing sentencing-guidelines supervised-release Is it a Constitutional Violation to a grade A, naoUTk>iT\ f^ccx lOO? w*W T^^rmorc. /AovavT, ^cawsq A w^e, T,\m<l \a\£> oc\AW a\■6<^ v0^ c^- ('^ YAoa't…
22-7127 William Michael Meyer v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-03-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment habeas-corpus proportionality state-court-adjudication term-of-years-sentences In 2015, Mr. Meyer was sentenced to a total of 230 years in prison after a jury convicted him of 23 counts of possession of child pornography. This wa…
22-7113 Atdom Mikels Patsalis v. Ryan Thornell, Director, Arizona Department of Corrections, Rehabilitation and Reentry, et al. Ninth Circuit 2023-03-27 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP aggregate-length-of-sentences cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment habeas-corpus proportionality term-of-years-sentences 1. When a state court expressly refuses to consider a petitioner's constitutional claim, has that court nevertheless adjudicated that claim "on the me…
22-6762 Ryan Galal Van Dyck v. Arizona Arizona 2023-02-13 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment child-pornography cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment life-sentence mandatory-sentencing proportionality sentencing Does a mandatory de facto life sentence for mere possession of child pornography images, when the person has never directly abused or attempted to abu…
22-6555 Steven Charles Hill v. Texas Texas 2023-01-18 Denied IFP criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment cruel-unusual-punishment due-process evidence-sufficiency jury-verdict life-sentence proportionality sentencing sufficiency-of-evidence IS THE EVIDENCE SUFFICIENT TO SUSTAIN THE JURY'S GUILTY VERDICT? WAS THE LIFE SENTENCE IMPOSED ON MR. HILL GROSSLY DISPROPORTIONATE? DOES THE LIFE SE…
22-5881 Trencie V. Oliver v. Dexter Payne, Director, Arkansas Division of Correction Eighth Circuit 2022-10-21 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-law criminal-law due-process eighth-amendment proportionality sentencing Whether Trencie Oliver's sentence imposed as to his offenses is disproportionate to the offense and violates due process or the Eighth Amendment of th…
22-335 Richard Collins v. United States Third Circuit 2022-10-11 Denied Response Waived bank-secrecy-act due-process fbar-penalty internal-revenue-service irs proportionality tax-reporting treasury-department willful-failure Whether the Government overreached by imposing any penalty on a taxpayer who owed no additional income tax and voluntarily amended his tax return befo…
22-5771 Shawn Canada v. Olmsted County Community Corrections, All Staff Members, et al. Eighth Circuit 2022-10-05 Denied IFP 8th-amendment civil-rights constitutional-rights criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process proportionality prosecutorial-misconduct sentencing supreme-court-review Question not identified.
21-8238 James Seeley v. United States Second Circuit 2022-06-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP 18-usc-2252a constitutional-interpretation criminal-procedure due-process fourth-amendment proportionality sentencing-commission sentencing-guidelines sixth-amendment statutory-authority statutory-interpretation Question not identified.
21-8232 Stephon Ellis v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-06-24 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-sentencing eighth-amendment judicial-discretion mitigating-factors mitigation-factors proportionality proportionality-principle sentencing-guidelines traumatic-background traumatic-childhood Whether the 90-month sentence imposed on Mr. Ellis was "greater than necessary" considering his extraordinarily traumatic childhood.
21-7221 Alfred Lavoris Moody v. United States Fourth Circuit 2022-02-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-justice criminal-procedure due-process judicial-discretion juvenile-justice mitigating-factors mitigation-factors proportionality rehabilitation sentencing sentencing-guidelines sentencing-review Whether the 78-month sentence imposed on Mr. Moody was " greater than necessary " considering his troubled childhood.
21-6632 Charles Dalton Shoemake v. Mississippi Mississippi 2021-12-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment exemplary-prison-record juvenile-sentencing life-with-parole proportionality rehabilitation Given his exemplary prison record and demonstrated rehabilitation, whether Charles Dalton Shoemake's life-with-parole sentence imposed for a crime he …
21-6257 Jevon Dion Jackson v. Wisconsin Wisconsin 2021-11-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP as-applied-challenge eddings-v-oklahoma eighth-amendment juvenile-sentencing life-without-parole miller-rule miller-v-alabama proportionality proportionality-review youth-mitigation 1. Whether a sentencing court adequately considers the mitigating aspects of youth where it considers at least some of those aspects to be aggravating…
21-5498 Raymond Concepcion v. Massachusetts Massachusetts 2021-08-27 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure eighth-amendment intellectual-disability juvenile-court juvenile-justice mandatory-sentencing miller-v-alabama proportionality youth youth-culpability 1. Whether the mandatory exclusion of murder defendants between the ages of 14 and 18 from Juvenile Court precludes individualized consideration of th…
21-64 Danny James McLaughlin v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2021-07-16 Denied Response Waived appellate-review bajakajian-factors criminal-fine criminal-fines eighth-amendment eighth-amendment-challenge excessive-fine judicial-review proportionality united-states-v-bajakajian When deciding whether a criminal fine is disproportionate to the gravity of a defendant's crime, and thereby unconstitutional under the Eighth Amendme…
20-7516 Josue Portillo v. United States Second Circuit 2021-03-22 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment incorrigibility juvenile-justice juvenile-offenders miller-rule miller-v-alabama proportionality sentencing Absent proof of incorrigibility, can a district court sentence a defendant to fifty-five years imprisonment without parole for participating in a exec…
20-1155 Jonas David Nelson v. Minnesota Minnesota 2021-02-23 Denied Amici (2)Response Waived cognitive-deficits cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment juvenile-offenders juvenile-sentencing life-sentence life-without-parole mental-illness proportionality proportionality-review 1. Whether the Eighth Amendment right to narrow proportionality review of sentences of life without release entails a right to a hearing at which evid…
20-6206 Travis Johnson v. Illinois Illinois 2020-11-03 Denied IFP appellate-review constitutional-law criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing eighth-amendment proportionality proportionate-penalties sentencing solem-v-helm state-courts supreme-court-precedent 1. IS Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277 (1983) binding Case Law? 2. Must Illinois Appellant Courts be required to Follow the United States Supreme Court's …
20-5945 Shelby Clarmont v. Willis Chapman, Warden Sixth Circuit 2020-10-07 Denied Response WaivedIFP advisory-guidelines constitutional-violation criminal-procedure due-process people-v-lockridge people-v-milbourn proportionality resentencing sentencing-guidelines Is The Imposing Of A Sentence Which Was Based On Incorrectly Scored Sentencing Guidelines And Was A Departure From Applicable Advisory Guidelines Wher…
20-5380 Antonio Deshawn Pitt v. United States Fourth Circuit 2020-08-17 Denied Response WaivedIFP bank-robbery criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process judicial-discretion mental-health proportionality proportionality-principle sentencing-guidelines statutory-interpretation Whether a district court's statutory obligation to consider the "history and circumstances" of a criminal defendant and to refrain from imposing a sen…
20-5263 Patrick W. Schroeder v. Nebraska Nebraska 2020-08-05 Denied IFP capital-punishment capital-sentencing death-penalty eighth-amendment fourteenth-amendment mitigation mitigation-evidence pro-se pro-se-representation proportionality sentencing 1) Whether the Eighth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution are violated when a capital sentencing panel issues a death sentence…
19-8849 Linda Pedroza v. Florida Florida 2020-07-02 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment juvenile-offender juvenile-sentencing parole proportionality second-degree-homicide sentencing sentencing-disparity Where a juvenile offender is sentenced to a term of 40 years in prison for a second degree homicide, and that sentence places her in a worse position …
19-8771 Michael A. Risenhoover v. William Muniz, Warden Ninth Circuit 2020-06-22 Denied Response WaivedRelisted (2)IFP 28-years-to-life criminal-procedure due-process first-degree-murder first-time-offender judicial-discretion murder prior-criminal-history proportionality public-message sentencing sentencing-guidelines 1) Does SENTENCING A FIRST TIME OFFENDER WITHOUT HAS NO PRIOR CRIMINAL HISTORY TO 28 YEARS TO LIFE SEND A DANGEROUS MESSAGE TO THE PUBLIC AND FUTURE O…
19-8448 Lamont Dantzler v. Illinois Illinois 2020-05-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-challenge constitutional-law criminal-justice criminal-law de-facto-life-sentence due-process juvenile-justice proportionality proportionate-penalties sentencing I. In an action in which the sole claim is whether,in a case in which an 18-year-old defendant who received a de facto life sentence does that sente…
19-1010 Actavis Holdco U.S., Inc., et al. v. Connecticut, et al. Third Circuit 2020-02-13 Denied Amici (6) civil-procedure civil-procedure-discovery claw-back discovery discovery-scope document-production federal-rules-of-civil-procedure mandamus mandamus-review proportionality relevance relevance-standard rule-26 scope-of-discovery Whether, contrary to Rule 26(b), this Court's decisions, and the decisions of five circuits, a district court may compel a party that has not engaged …
19-7574 Luis Beltran v. United States Second Circuit 2020-02-05 Denied Response WaivedIFP 8th-amendment brain-development due-process due-process-clause eighth-amendment juvenile-defendants juvenile-sentencing mandatory-life-imprisonment proportionality proportionality-principle sentencing In Miller v. Alabama, 567 U.S. 460 (2012), and Montgomery v. Louisiana, 136 S. Ct. 718 (2016), this Court held that sentencing a juvenile defendant (i…
19-7418 Jody Gifford v. Florida Florida 2020-01-27 Denied IFP constitutional-rights criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment juvenile-offenders juvenile-sentencing life-sentence parole proportionality resentencing Whether the courts below decided an important federal question in a way that conflicts with the relevant decisions of this Honorable Court when they d…
19-7234 Denzel Chisholm, aka Den, aka Din v. United States First Circuit 2020-01-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP anti-drug-abuse-act anti-drug-abuse-act-1986 anti-drug-abuse-act-of-1986 congressional-intent criminal-law criminal-sentencing drug-offense proportionality retail-level-manager sentencing sentencing-reasonableness statutory-interpretation substantive-reasonableness Whether a 342-month sentence for a retail-level manager is substantively reasonable where it far exceeds a sentence that properly accounts for Congres…
19-719 Dami Hospitality, LLC v. Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Division of Workers' Compensation Colorado 2019-12-06 Denied ability-to-pay civil-rights constitutional-law criminal-fines criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process eighth-amendment excessive-fines excessive-fines-clause proportionality sentencing How is an offender's ability to pay relevant in determining whether a fine is unconstitutional under Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment?
19-6583 Patrick Killen, Jr. v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2019-11-12 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-law criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment eleventh-circuit graham-v-florida gross-disproportionality proportionality sentencing statutory-limits I. What is the proper analysis to determine whether there is a threshold showing of an inference of gross disproportionality on an Eighth Amendment cl…
19-5877 Damion D. Faulkner v. United States Sixth Circuit 2019-09-09 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-sentencing cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment judicial-discretion proportionality proportionality-review sentencing sentencing-disparities sentencing-guidelines sentencing-reasonableness sex-offense sex-offenses substantive-due-process Is it substantively unreasonable to impose an effective sentence of life on a 30-year-old defendant who committed a "reprehensible" sex offense that c…
19-5030 Michael D. Mathew v. Ohio Ohio 2019-07-01 Denied IFP civil-rights constitutional-rights criminal-law criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment proportionality sentencing Whether the twenty-one year sentence imposed by the state trial court violated the Eighth Amendment ban on cruel and unusual punishments?
18-1585 Kassim M. Nagi v. Louisiana Louisiana 2019-06-27 GVR Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (3) 8th-amendment controlled-substances cruel-and-unusual-punishment cruel-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment first-time-offender lockyer-v-andrade money-laundering proportionality proportionality-test racketeering sentencing solem-v-helm 1. A sentence, even within range, is excessive when it imposes punishment grossly disproportionate to the severity of the evidence, or constitutes not…
18-1523 Michael Gannon v. City of Eugene, Oregon Oregon 2019-06-07 Denied Response Waived 1st-amendment 5th-amendment 8th-amendment constitutional-rights due-process eighth-amendment first-amendment free-speech liberty-interest proportionality public-forum public-university 1) Do the First Amendment's protections to public streets as the archetype of a traditional public forumextend to city and state public streets and pu…
18-9549 Mauricio Lucas-Lopez v. Tony Trierweiler, Warden Sixth Circuit 2019-06-04 Denied Response WaivedIFP constitutional-law cruel-and-unusual-punishment disproportionate-sentence eighth-amendment federal-court-decisions federal-courts guidance-needed mandatory-minimum mandatory-minimum-sentence proportionality sentencing sentencing-guidelines A. IS PETITIONER'S TWENTY-FIVE YEAR MANDATORY MINIMUM SENTENCE DISPROPORTIONATE TO THE OFFENSE COMMITTED VIOLATING THE EIGHTH AMENDMENT OF THE UNITED …
18-9123 Jovan McClenton v. California California 2019-05-03 Denied Response WaivedIFP discretion due-process eighth-amendment miller-v-alabama sentencing de-novo-resentencing discretionary-sentencing eighth-amendment hallmark-features-of-youth juvenile-offenders juvenile-sentencing miller-factors miller-v-alabama proportionality Is de novo resentencing required where lengthy, fully determinate sentences, primarily based on the discretion of the trial court, were imposed on juv…
18-8951 Terrance Proctor v. Wendy Kelley, Director, Arkansas Department of Correction Arkansas 2019-04-23 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP criminal-procedure discretion due-process eighth-amendment graham-v-florida juvenile-sentencing life-without-parole mitigation proportionality sentencing-mitigation 1. Are consecutive, fixed term sentences for juveniles unconstitutional at the outset when they amount functional equivalent of life w/out parole? Ap…
18-1267 Angela Rene Leeman v. Arizona Arizona 2019-04-03 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) civil-rights cruel-and-unusual-punishment eighth-amendment graham-v-florida juvenile-sentencing miller-v-alabama non-homicide-offenses parole-eligibility parole-restriction proportionality proportionality-review 1. Whether Graham v. Florida, 560 U.S. 48 (2010), applies with the equal force to consecutive sentences for non-homicide offenses that work in the agg…
18A1003 Gary Reid v. Florida Florida 2019-04-01 Presumed Complete cruel-and-unusual eighth-amendment juvenile-sentencing life-sentence miller-v-alabama proportionality Question not identified.
18A1001 Freddy Brown v. Florida Florida 2019-04-01 Presumed Complete eighth-amendment juvenile-sentencing life-sentence miller-v-alabama mitigating-factors proportionality Question not identified.
18A1002 Joseph Carter v. Florida Florida 2019-04-01 Presumed Complete cruel-and-unusual eighth-amendment juvenile-sentencing miller-v-alabama proportionality sentencing-discretion Question not identified.
18-8441 Gaetan Dinelle, aka Gates v. United States Second Circuit 2019-03-18 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2)IFP criminal-justice cruel-and-unusual-punishment disproportionate-sentence eighth-amendment first-time-offender marijuana-trafficking non-violent-offender non-violent-offense proportionality sentencing Whether a life-sentence for a non-violent, first-time offender, who trafficked in marijuana, is unreasonable, disproportionate, and amounts to cruel a…
18-1053 Ashland Specialty Co., Inc. v. Dale W. Steager, West Virginia State Tax Commissioner West Virginia 2019-02-11 Denied Amici (2)Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) bajakajian-standard civil-monetary-penalty civil-noncompliance civil-penalty cooper-industries-v-leatherman eighth-amendment excessive-fines excessive-fines-clause-8th-amendment gross-disproportionality grossly-disproportionate master-settlement-agreement proportionality regulatory-compliance state-tax united-states-v-bajakajian A State punished a small business's inadvertent civil noncompliance by automatically applying a civil monetary penalty at the maximum percentage rate …
18-6855 Antonio DeJesus Perez-Martinez v. United States Sixth Circuit 2018-11-28 Denied Response WaivedIFP appellate-review constitutional-challenge constructive-amendment criminal-procedure due-process equal-protection indictment indictment-variance ineffective-assistance ineffective-assistance-of-counsel plea-bargaining proportionality sentencing sentencing-proportionality sentencing-reasonableness APPELLATE COUNSEL WAS GROSSLY INEFFECTIVE, BY ARGUING A MATERIAL VARIANCE IN THE INDICTMENT, INSTEAD OF THE MORE EGREGIOUS CONSTRUCTIVE AMENDMENT OF T…
18-6808 Harlem Suarez v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-11-26 Denied Response WaivedIFP commerce-clause commerce-clause-power criminal-procedure eighth-amendment first-time-offender hobbs-act interstate-commerce proportionality taylor-v-united-states united-states-v-lopez weapon-of-mass-destruction weapons-of-mass-destruction I. In United States v. Lopez, 514 U.S. 549 (1995), this Court held that Congress had the authority under the Commerce Clause to regulate three broad c…
18-596 Marie Neba v. United States Fifth Circuit 2018-11-06 Denied Response RequestedResponse WaivedRelisted (2) appellate-review criminal-procedure criminal-sentencing due-process federal-sentencing judicial-discretion judicial-review presumption-of-reasonableness proportionality rita-v-united-states sentencing-disparities sentencing-guidelines 1. Should the Court overrule or refine Rita v. United States (2007) 551 U.S. 338, such that an irregular and disproportionate within-Guidelines senten…
18-6335 George Jenkins v. United States Eleventh Circuit 2018-10-16 Denied Response WaivedIFP criminal-procedure cruel-and-unusual-punishment drug-offense due-process first-time-offender non-violent-crime proportionality reasonableness-review sentencing-discretion sentencing-guidelines WHETHER THE SENTENCE IMPOSED IS UNREASONABLE A. Whether a One Hundred Forty-four (144) month prison sentence for a first time non-violent, drug deale…
18-463 Bernard Morello v. Texas Texas 2018-10-12 Denied Response Waived arbitrary-enforcement civil-rights constitutional-proportionality due-process eighth-amendment excessive-fines fourteenth-amendment proportionality state-law state-statute statutory-fines Does a properly enacted state statute imposing fines and penalties violate the Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution if the state applies…
18-5861 Danny Lopez Chavez v. Joel Martinez, Warden Ninth Circuit 2018-08-31 Denied Response WaivedIFP civil-rights constitutional-law constitutional-rights criminal-law cruel-and-unusual-punishment due-process eighth-amendment proportionality sentencing (1) Whether appellant's sentence is grossly disproportionate to the crimes of conviction in violation of the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cr…
18-100 Leonard Maurice Drane v. Eric Sellers, Warden Georgia 2018-07-23 Denied actual-innocence constitutional-review death-penalty due-process eighth-amendment enmund-v-florida fourteenth-amendment habeas-corpus proportionality wrongful-conviction 1. When a prisoner under a sentence of death has acquired compelling and undisputed evidence of his actual innocence after his trial that the state co…