{
  "id": "RS21346",
  "type": "CRS Report",
  "typeId": "REPORTS",
  "number": "RS21346",
  "active": false,
  "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
  "versions": [
    {
      "source": "EveryCRSReport.com",
      "id": 103139,
      "date": "2003-03-24",
      "retrieved": "2016-04-08T14:49:49.881544",
      "title": "Mandatory Minimum Sentences: Three Strikes in the Supreme Court -- Ewing v. California and Lockyer v. Andrade",
      "summary": "The Eighth Amendment's cruel and unusual punishments clause forbids grossly disproportionate\nsentences. The question of how to determine whether a particular term of imprisonment is grossly\ndisproportionate under the facts of a particular case has divided the Court for years. The division\nwas evident in the Court's recent treatment of the issue in two cases arising under the California\nThree Strikes law,  Lockyer v. Andrade , 123 S.Ct. 1166 (2003), and  Ewing v.\nCalifornia , 123 S.Ct.\n1179 (2003). In  Andrade , the Court conceded that its precedents were unclear. As a\nconsequent,\nfederal courts could not conduct habeas corpus review of a state court decision which had upheld\napplication of the three strikes law against an Eighth Amendment challenge. In  Ewing ,\nthe state\nprevailed when three justices found no disproportionality in the application of the California scheme\nand were joined by two Justices who found proportionality unworkable as a basis upon which to\ninvalidate punishment in the form of imprisonment for crime.\n  Related CRS Reports include  CRS Report RS21347(pdf) ,  Federal Mandatory Minimum\n Sentencing\nStatutes: An Overview of Legislation in the 107th Congress ; and  CRS Report RL30281(pdf) ,\n Federal\nMandatory Minimum Sentencing Statutes: A List of Citation with Captions, Introductory Comments\nand Bibliography .",
      "type": "CRS Report",
      "typeId": "REPORTS",
      "active": false,
      "formats": [
        {
          "format": "PDF",
          "encoding": null,
          "url": "http://www.crs.gov/Reports/pdf/RS21346",
          "sha1": "5252c1fb273876ee62c009b019f8bc3c5a86110d",
          "filename": "files/20030324_RS21346_5252c1fb273876ee62c009b019f8bc3c5a86110d.pdf",
          "images": null
        },
        {
          "format": "HTML",
          "filename": "files/20030324_RS21346_5252c1fb273876ee62c009b019f8bc3c5a86110d.html"
        }
      ],
      "topics": []
    }
  ],
  "topics": [
    "American Law"
  ]
}