Opinion ID: 476834
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Judicial Review-Proportionality

Text: 55 McKenzie was entitled to, and as it turned out took great advantage of, his right to appeal the legality of his sentence. His case has been before the Montana Supreme Court four times and the United States Supreme Court three times. He also had the right to ask the Montana Sentence Review Division to review the appropriateness of his sentence. 6 He did this. The requirement that there be a procedure designed to ensure review of the death sentence was patently satisfied. 56 McKenzie also argues that the review by the Sentence Review Division did not ensure a review for proportionality. Comparative proportionality review is no longer constitutionally required in every state court death sentence review. Pulley v. Harris, 465 U.S. 37, 104 S.Ct. 871, 79 L.Ed.2d 29 (1984). Regardless, the entire purpose of an appeal to the Sentence Review Division is to determine the appropriateness of a death sentence. Therefore, a review for proportionality was provided McKenzie. 57 We find the death penalty statutes in question in this case constitutional. There are precise statutory requirements for finding aggravating and mitigating circumstances, and a procedure for fleshing out the facts with respect to such circumstances. There is appellate review at two levels, insuring that the sentence is both legal and proportional to the nature and class of crime.