Proportionality Principles in American Law

E. Thomas Sullivan is Senior Vice President and Provost, and Julius E. Davis Chair in Law at the University of Minnesota. Richard S. Frase is the Benjamin N. Berger Professor of Criminal Law at the University of Minnesota.

• PART I. ORIGINS: FROM THE ANNALS OF HISTORY TO THE TWENTY FIRST CENTURY; PART II. PROPORTIONALITY IN AMERICAN CIVIL JURISPRUDENCE; PART III. PROPORTIONALITY IN AMERICAN CRIMINAL JUSTICE

"It is heresy in some circles to suggest that the Supreme Court could learn anything useful from the world outside our borders. This book argues that the European doctrine of proportionality not only helps us understand our existing constitutional rules more clearly but also leads to some significant improvements. Readers will find much to learn about our own constitutional system as well as European law. As the authors show, we need to take seriously the ideaof proportionality between the ends and means of government action."--Daniel Farber, Sho Sato Professor of Law, University of California, Berkeley"In this important study in constitutional and public law, Professors Sullivan and Frase take on a familiar concept-proportionality--that is widely revered as a benchmark for mediating between conflicting values and interests. They show, through their comparative work and analysis of American law, how the differing meanings of proportionality indicate different processes of assessment. We should be grateful to the authors for so impressively drawing out thesevarying meanings and for developing a set of principles of proportionality that safeguard key values in the process of judicial review."--Andrew Ashworth, Vinerian Professor of English Law, All SoulsCollege, Oxford University"An important corrective for the practice of judicial review in American courts, Proportionality Principles in American Law argues that every intrusive government measure that threatens individual rights should undergo some sort of serious proportionality review. While proportionality principles are increasingly employed, courts have not been explicit about this fact and no unified theory has emerged; we can all be grateful for the conceptualgroundwork and rigorous definitions developed here by E. Thomas Sullivan and Richard S. Frase. This book is certain to be an important addition to any public law scholar's library."--Herbert Hovenkamp, Ben V. andDorothy Willie Professor of Law and History, University of Iowa