Bizarre, Draconian And Disproportionate?

With the Supreme Court closely divided on criminal justice, the outcome of the Andrade and Ewing cases is unpredictable. The Bush Administration and nine states have filed briefs supporting California, asking the court to defer to the states' prerogative to set prison sentences. Historically, the court has rarely applied the Eighth Amendment against "cruel and unusual punishment" in repeat-offender cases. But in a 1991 Michigan case upholding a life-without-parole sentence for possession of 672 g of cocaine, the Justices nonetheless ruled that the Constitution forbids "extreme sentences that are grossly disproportionate" to the crime. Andrade and Ewing are counting on that precedent to save them.