California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Foss, In re, 10 Cal.3d 910, 112 Cal.Rptr. 649, 519 P.2d 1073 (Cal. 1974):
In addition, as pointed out above, also relevant to determining whether a sentence is disproportionate to the offense and offender, is a consideration of the penological purposes of the punishment imposed in light of the particular offense. In People v. Lorentzen, Supra, 194 N.W.2d 827, 834, the court struck down a mandatory 20 year minimum term for sale of marijuana, stating: 'A compulsory prison sentence of 20 years for a nonviolent crime imposed without consideration for defendant's individual personality and history is so excessive that it 'shocks the conscience. " The provision precluding consideration for parole for the minimum term of ten years without consideration for either the offender or his offense is no less shocking.
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