Opinion ID: 867512
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Proportionality of the Sentence to the Crimes Committed

Text: ¶ 11 Davis argues that given the circumstances of his offenses, the four flat, consecutive, thirteen-year sentences violate the prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment found in the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article 2, Section 15 of the Arizona Constitution. He contends that the mandatory fifty-two-year sentence, without the possibility of parole, is so grossly disproportionate to his offenses as to be unconstitutional. ¶ 12 We asked the parties to brief whether Article 2, Section 15 of the Arizona Constitution provides greater protection against cruel and unusual punishment than does the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. See, e.g., People v. Bullock, 440 Mich. 15, 485 N.W.2d 866, 872-74 (1992) (finding Michigan's cruel or unusual punishment provision broader than the United States Constitution's corollary provision). Although we do not follow federal precedent blindly, after considering the issue we do not find in this case a compelling reason to interpret Arizona's cruel and unusual punishment provision differently from the related provision in the federal constitution. See State v. Noble, 171 Ariz. 171, 173, 829 P.2d 1217, 1219 (1992).
¶ 13 The Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and its corollary, Article 2, Section 15 of the Arizona Constitution, prohibit punishments that are cruel and unusual. While originally reserved for review of corporal punishments, the Eighth Amendment has been applied to lengthy sentences of incarceration. Lockyer v. Andrade, 538 U.S. 63, ___, 123 S.Ct. 1166, 1173, 155 L.Ed.2d 144 (2003). We must decide whether Davis's fifty-two-year sentence is so excessively long as to be cruel and unusual. [2] ¶ 14 More than a decade ago, this court wrestled with the problem of a very long sentence in a case exhibiting facts remarkably similar to those at issue before us. See State v. Bartlett, 164 Ariz. 229, 792 P.2d 692 (1990) ( Bartlett I ). In Bartlett I, a twenty-three-year-old defendant was convicted of sexual conduct with two fourteen-year-old girls. Id. at 231, 792 P.2d at 694. Because both victims were younger than fifteen, the charges were considered dangerous crimes against children, although the girls considered themselves Bartlett's girlfriends. Id. at 233, 792 P.2d at 696. Under the mandatory sentencing provisions of the Dangerous Crimes Against Children Act, Bartlett received the minimum sentence of forty years in prison without the possibility of early release. Id. As does Davis, Bartlett argued that his sentence was so disproportionate to his crimes that it violated the constitutional prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Id. Because the facts and circumstances of Bartlett I are so similar to those in the case at bar, we set forth in some detail our reasoning in that case. ¶ 15 In Bartlett I, we analyzed the constitutionality of the defendant's sentence under the prevailing test at the time, which had been enunciated by the United States Supreme Court in Solem v. Helm, 463 U.S. 277, 292, 103 S.Ct. 3001, 3011, 77 L.Ed.2d 637 (1983). Solem set forth a three-part test to determine whether a sentence was disproportionate to the crime and therefore violated the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Id. The test required examination of the following factors: (a) the severity of the penalty as compared to the seriousness of the offense, (b) the jurisdiction's penalties for crimes that are more serious than the offense at issue (the intra-jurisdictional analysis), and (c) the sentences other jurisdictions impose for the same crime (the inter-jurisdictional analysis). Id. ¶ 16 In comparing the penalty with the offense, this court first examined the nature of the crime, including the type of harm threatened or inflicted, and the defendant's culpability. Bartlett I, 164 Ariz. at 234, 792 P.2d at 697. The court found several factors important: (a) the absence of either the threat or the commission of violence to induce the victims to engage in sex; (b) the victims' willing participation in the acts; (c) Bartlett's lack of a criminal record, including any crime against children; (d) his immaturity; (e) the sociological fact that sexual conduct among post-pubescent teenagers is not uncommon; and (f) the broad scope of the governing statute. Id. at 234-36, 792 P.2d at 697-99. While observing that the severe mandatory punishment required by the Dangerous Crimes Against Children Act may be justified for other, more heinous crimes, the court concluded that it was not justified under the specific circumstances of this case. Id. at 236, 792 P.2d at 699. ¶ 17 Application of the second and third prongs of the Solem test, the intra- and inter-jurisdictional analyses, provided further support for that conclusion. ¶ 18 The intra-jurisdictional analysis showed that in Arizona, many more serious offenses qualified for equal or lesser punishments than the punishment Bartlett received. Id. For example, one guilty of second degree murder or forcible sexual assault of a minor could receive the same sentence Bartlett received. Id. ¶ 19 For the inter-jurisdictional analysis, the court conducted a nationwide survey to determine how other jurisdictions punished defendants guilty of two counts of sexual conduct with minors. Id. at 238-40, 792 P.2d at 701-03. The survey showed that three years was the longest minimum sentence for the first offense, and in all but one state, ten years was the longest minimum sentence for the second offense. Id. at 238, 240, 792 P.2d at 701, 703. All sentences in all jurisdictions were far less than the forty years Bartlett was required to serve. Notably, the court did not find in any other jurisdiction the particularly harsh combination of provisions present here, including both mandatory consecutive sentencing and nonavailability of parole. Id. at 240, 792 P.2d at 703. ¶ 20 In concluding its opinion, this court cautioned that successful challenges to the proportionality of particular sentences are `exceedingly rare.' Id. (quoting Solem, 463 U.S. at 289-90, 103 S.Ct. at 3009). But in a narrow holding, carefully restricted to the facts of the case, the court determined that Bartlett presented that exceedingly rare case in which the application of the provisions of the Dangerous Crimes Against Children Act rendered the sentence unconstitutionally long. Accordingly, we remanded Bartlett I for resentencing without the application of the dangerous crimes against children enhancement. Id. at 242, 792 P.2d at 705. ¶ 21 On review by certiorari, the United States Supreme Court vacated the opinion in Bartlett I and remanded the case for reconsideration in light of its decision in Harmelin v. Michigan, 501 U.S. 957, 111 S.Ct. 2680, 115 L.Ed.2d 836 (1991). Arizona v. Bartlett, 501 U.S. 1246, 111 S.Ct. 2880, 115 L.Ed.2d 1046 (1991). ¶ 22 In Harmelin, a plurality of the Supreme Court recognized a narrow proportionality principle embodied in the Eighth Amendment that prohibits sentences that are grossly disproportionate to the crime. 501 U.S. at 997, 111 S.Ct. at 2702-03 (Kennedy, J., concurring, joined by O'Connor and Souter, JJ.). Justice Kennedy determined that the Solem three-part analysis remained useful, but a reviewing court should consider the second and third factorsthat is, the intra-and inter-jurisdictional analysesonly if a threshold comparison of the crime committed and the sentence imposed leads to an inference of gross disproportionality. Id. at 1005, 111 S.Ct. at 2707. ¶ 23 The five opinions in Harmelin left unclear the contours of the test to be applied on remand in Bartlett's case. We concluded, however, that Justice Kennedy's modified Solem analysis provided the proper standard by which to reconsider the sentence in Bartlett I. State v. Bartlett, 171 Ariz. 302, 305, 830 P.2d 823, 826 (1992) ( Bartlett II ). ¶ 24 The modified Solem analysis required the court to first examine whether Bartlett's sentence was grossly disproportionate to his crimes. Id. at 306, 830 P.2d at 827. Using the same factors we considered in Bartlett I, we again concluded that a sentence of forty years without possibility of parole for consensual sex with post-pubescent teenagers reaches the threshold of gross disproportion, given the fact that the people, through their legislature, have adopted statutes under which the courts impose comparable punishment by imprisonment for crimes such as violent rape, second degree murder, and brutal assault of children. Id. at 309, 830 P.2d at 830. ¶ 25 We validated our initial impression of gross disproportionality by conducting intra-and inter-jurisdictional analyses, which showed that little change had occurred in the two years that had passed since Bartlett I was decided. Id. at 310, 830 P.2d at 831. These analyses confirmed that Bartlett's sentence was grossly disproportionate to his crimes, both because it was harsher than sentences imposed in Arizona for more severe crimes and because it was far harsher than the minimum sentence imposed for a similar offense in any other jurisdiction. Id. ¶ 26 Two justices dissented in Bartlett II, 171 Ariz. at 311-16, 830 P.2d at 832-37. Although the dissenting justices concurred in the majority's assessment that Justice Kennedy's plurality opinion provided the proper framework for a proportionality review, they disagreed as to what that analysis entailed. Id. They believed, as does our dissenting colleague in this case, that the court was prohibited from reviewing the specific circumstances of Bartlett's crimes. Id. Rather, they reasoned, Harmelin permitted an analysis only of the threat posed to the individual and to society by the commission of that crime. Id. at 312, 830 P.2d at 833 (Corcoran, J., dissenting) (citing Harmelin, 501 U.S. at 1001-05, 111 S.Ct. at 2705-07). ¶ 27 Just four years later, the dissent's position became the majority. In State v. DePiano, 187 Ariz. 27, 926 P.2d 494 (1996), a three-member majority held that disproportionality must be measured by the nature of the crime and not by the facts and circumstances of any particular defendant's case. Id. at 30, 926 P.2d at 497. ¶ 28 In DePiano, the defendant attempted to commit suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning by running her car in her closed garage. Id. at 28-29, 926 P.2d at 495-96. She placed her two young sons in the car with her. Id. All survived, and DePiano was sentenced to two flat, consecutive, seventeen-year sentences for two counts of child abuse. Id. In affirming the convictions, this court rejected DePiano's disproportionality claim without looking at the particular circumstances surrounding her offense. Id. at 30, 926 P.2d at 497. ¶ 29 As the divergent analyses in Bartlett II and DePiano show, this court has struggled to interpret the guidance from the Supreme Court. That Court has acknowledged that it has not been a model of clarity and has not established a clear ... path for courts to follow. Lockyer, 538 U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1173. Indeed, the Supreme Court has conceded that the only principle to emerge from its splintered Eighth Amendment jurisprudence is that a gross disproportionality principle does apply to non-capital cases. Id. Our task today is to decipher the Court's jurisprudence and determine the standards that govern a proportionality review. The proper application of those standards should resolve the point of divergence between Bartlett II and DePiano: whether a reviewing court conducting a proportionality review may examine the specific facts of the case or whether it may only view the crime generally. ¶ 30 We are aided in this task by the Supreme Court's recent decisions in Lockyer and Ewing v. California, 538 U.S. 11, 123 S.Ct. 1179, 155 L.Ed.2d 108 (2003), companion cases in which the Court attempted to clarify the appropriate analysis for Eighth Amendment proportionality review. In each, the Court reviewed a lengthy sentence imposed under California's three-strikes law. Lockyer, 538 U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1170; Ewing, 538 U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1182. Although the opinions in each case are sharply divided, a majority of the Court now appears to have adopted the analysis set forth in Justice Kennedy's plurality opinion in Harmelin. See Ewing, 538 U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1187 (stating that [t]he proportionality principles in our cases distilled in Justice Kennedy's concurrence [in Harmelin ] guide our application of the Eighth Amendment proportionality review); see also id. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1191-92 (Stevens, Souter, Ginsburg, and Breyer, JJ., dissenting, agreeing that a proportionality principle applies). ¶ 31 In conducting its analysis in each case, the Supreme Court reviewed the specific facts and circumstances of the offense that led to the imposition of the three-strike enhancement, as well as reviewing each defendant's prior record. Lockyer, 538 U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1169-70; Ewing, 538 U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1189-90. [3] In Ewing, the specific facts of Ewing's crime revealed more than simply shoplifting; by stealing three golf clubs worth nearly $1200, he had committed grand theft. 538 U.S. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1189. Compounding the seriousness of the acts, Ewing committed his crime while on probation and after previously having been convicted of at least two `violent' or `serious' felonies. Id. These individual circumstances, Justice O'Connor concluded, rendered Ewing's sentence justified by the State's public-safety interest in incapacitating and deterring recidivist felons, and amply supported by [Ewing's] own long, serious criminal record. Id. at ___, 123 S.Ct. at 1190. Thus, in conducting its proportionality review, the Court examined the specific facts and circumstances of the defendant's crime. ¶ 32 Other courts have also reviewed individual circumstances when conducting proportionality reviews. See Henderson v. Norris, 258 F.3d 706, 709, 712 (8th Cir.2001) (reviewing the specific facts of the defendant's case, the harm caused or threatened to the victim or to society and the culpability and degree of involvement of the defendant in finding a sentence disproportionately long); Hawkins v. Hargett, 200 F.3d 1279, 1283 n. 2 (10th Cir.1999) (concluding that the defendant's culpability is relevant in Eighth Amendment proportionality review); United States v. Harris, 154 F.3d 1082, 1084 (9th Cir.1998) (considering, in upholding a ninety-five-year sentence, the facts of a bank robbery that was undeniably violent[;] employees and bystanders were threatened and occasionally harmed). These recent decisions demonstrate the utility and appropriateness of analyzing the specific facts and circumstances of the offenses when determining if a sentence is grossly disproportionate to the crime committed. ¶ 33 One other factor motivates us to review the specific circumstances of Davis's case: The legislature permits this court to reduce lengthy sentences when the punishment imposed is greater than under the circumstances of the case ought to be inflicted. A.R.S. § 13-4037(B) (2001) (allowing imposition of any legal sentence). Although Davis's sentence fell within the legal sentencing range, if we find a sentence excessive, A.R.S. § 13-4037(B) imposes on us the duty to review the circumstances of the case to determine whether the sentence imposed is in fact unwarranted. ¶ 34 Our opinion in DePiano, which prohibited such an individualized analysis, while an understandable attempt to comply with the Supreme Court's splintered Eighth Amendment jurisprudence of the day, now appears to be a rivulet diverting from the mainstream analysis, and we overrule it. [4] Subsequent guidance from the Supreme Court suggests that, in assessing the constitutionality of a sentence, the reviewing court should examine the crime, and, if the sentence imposed is so severe that it appears grossly disproportionate to the offense, the court must carefully examine the facts of the case and the circumstances of the offender to see whether the sentence is cruel and unusual.
¶ 35 Against this background, we analyze the sentence imposed on Davis. We must first determine whether an inference of gross disproportionality between Davis's offenses and his sentence can be drawn.
¶ 36 Davis was sentenced to serve fifty-two years in prison for having non-coerced sex with two post-pubescent teenage girls. This strikes the courtas it did the jurors, the trial judge, the pre-sentence report writer, and the girls' mothersas an extraordinarily long sentence. Many of the factors deemed important in determining that Bartlett's sentence was disproportionate to his crimes are also present here: (1) Davis's sexual relations with the girls involved neither actual nor threatened violence; in each instance the girls knew what they were doing and willingly participated. Indeed, the victims sought Davis out; all acts occurred after the victims went voluntarily to Davis's home. (2) Davis does not have an adult criminal record, nor has he committed any previous crimes against children. (3) Post-pubescent sexual conduct appears to be no less common today than it was in 1990. [5] (4) There is evidence in the record that Davis's intelligence and maturity level fell far below that of a normal young adult. (5) Like Bartlett, Davis was caught in the very broad sweep of the governing statute, which makes any sexual conduct with a person younger than fifteen years old by a person older than eighteen years old a dangerous crime against children, whether the offense is a rape-incest by a step-parent who forces sex on a trusting ward or a pedophile who uncontrollably preys upon young children, see State v. Taylor, 160 Ariz. 415, 773 P.2d 974 (1989), or the more benign boyfriend-girlfriend situation in which one party is older than eighteen and the other younger than fifteen. ¶ 37 We recognize society's strong interest in protecting children and understand and appreciate that it is the legislature's province to assess the appropriate punishment for crimes against children. But we cannot say that all incidents of sexual conduct are of equal seriousness and pose the same threat to their victims or to society. The broad range of offenses encompassed by the statute under which Davis was charged, coupled with the legislature's command in A.R.S. § 13-4037(B) and the Supreme Court's Eighth Amendment jurisprudence, impose on us the duty to apply the law to the specific facts of the cases that come before us to determine the constitutionality of sentences imposed. After conducting that review, we conclude that Davis's conduct was swept up in the broad statutory terms, which, in turn, triggered the mandatory sentences imposed. The trial judge, the jury, the pre-sentence report writer, and even the victims' mothers all recognized the injustice of sentencing Davis to a fifty-two-year prison sentence with no possibility of early release for the crimes at issue in this case. We cannot ignore that injustice. While recognizing that many sex crimes against children may well justify such a sentence, others do not. We conclude that given the circumstances of Davis's offenses, the sentence imposed in this case appears to be grossly disproportionate to his crimes.
¶ 38 Once an inference of gross disproportionality has been found, the Supreme Court suggests that a reviewing court validate that impression by conducting an intra-and inter-jurisdictional analysis. [6] Harmelin, 501 U.S. at 1005, 111 S.Ct. at 2707 (Kennedy, J., concurring); Solem, 463 U.S. at 291-92, 103 S.Ct. at 3010. In the intra-jurisdictional analysis, we compare the sentences imposed in Arizona for crimes more serious than those committed by Davis to see whether those sentences validate our tentative conclusion of gross disproportionality. See Bartlett I, 164 Ariz. at 242, 792 P.2d at 705. ¶ 39 Little has changed since this court conducted a similar analysis in 1990 in Bartlett I. Id. at 236-37, 792 P.2d at 699-700. It continues to be the case that those guilty of more serious crimes, such as second degree murder, sexual assault, or continued sexual abuse of a minor under fifteen years of age receive the same presumptive sentence that Davis did. See A.R.S. § 13-604.01(C). It also remains true that dangerous crimes against children such as kidnapping, child abuse, aggravated assault, or commercial sexual exploitation of a child, all seemingly more dangerous crimes than Davis's, carry a lesser presumptive sentence and, with mitigation, those who commit such crimes are eligible for a ten-year minimum sentence for each count, less than the thirteen-year minimum sentence for each count for Davis's crime. A.R.S. § 13-604.01(D). ¶ 40 Additionally, other serious felony offenses not involving children receive significantly less severe sentences in Arizona. Those guilty of kidnapping a person older than fifteen, A.R.S. § 13-1304 (2001), sexual assault of a victim older than fifteen, A.R.S. § 13-1406 (2001), first degree burglary of a residential structure, A.R.S. § 13-1508 (2001), and arson of an occupied structure, A.R.S. § 13-1704 (2001), are all eligible for more lenient sentences, and the sentencing judge may order that multiple sentences be served concurrently. See A.R.S. § 13-708 (2001). ¶ 41 In response, the State cites five decisions affirming extremely harsh sentences imposed against those convicted of sex crimes against children. Taylor, 160 Ariz. at 422, 773 P.2d at 981 (eighty-five consecutive life sentences for a total of 2975 years for sexual exploitation and sexual conduct with minors); State v. Jones, 188 Ariz. 534, 937 P.2d 1182 (App.1996) (six consecutive twenty-five-year sentences for sexual assault); State v. Hamilton, 177 Ariz. 403, 868 P.2d 986 (App.1993) (three consecutive twenty-year sentences for child molestation); State v. Ross, 166 Ariz. 579, 804 P.2d 112 (App.1990) (twenty-five-year sentence for one count of sexual assault); State v. Crego, 154 Ariz. 278, 742 P.2d 289 (App.1987) (forty-year sentence for child molestation). The State argues that these cases show that Davis's sentences are not grossly disproportionate given the way other similar crimes have been punished in Arizona. ¶ 42 But even a cursory review of these five cases reveals enormous differences in the nature of the crimes, the harm to the victims and to society, and the culpability of the defendants. In Jones, the victim was the defendant's daughter, whom he raped and molested, coerced by threats of violence, for nearly ten years, from the time the child was five years old until she turned fourteen. Jones, 188 Ariz. at 537, 539, 937 P.2d at 1185, 1187. The five known victims who were the subjects of the eighty-five counts on which Taylor was convicted ranged from three to eight years old, and many unknown victims were never located. Taylor, 160 Ariz. at 417, 423, 773 P.2d at 976, 982. [7] The defendant, who had three prior felonies involving sexual conduct with minors, had a large collection of photographs of the young victims engaged in various sex acts with each other and with him. Id. at 417, 422, 773 P.2d at 976, 981. In Hamilton, the victims were the defendant's girlfriend's twelve- and nine-year-old daughters, who had been subjected to years of sexual abuse and threats of violence when left in the defendant's care. Hamilton, 177 Ariz. at 405, 868 P.2d at 988. In Ross, the defendant and two other males abducted a fourteen-year-old girl whom they sexually assaulted. Ross, 166 Ariz. at 582, 804 P.2d at 115. Finally, the defendant in Crego was convicted of molesting two children under the age of fifteen only months after being released from prison for similar conduct. Crego, 154 Ariz. at 279-80, 742 P.2d at 290-91. ¶ 43 Thus, the facts of these cases stand in stark contrast to the facts of the case before us, in which the post-pubescent victims sought Davis out and willingly participated in the criminal acts. [8] Indeed, we draw two conclusions from the cases the State cites. First, Davis's fifty-two-year sentence is grossly disproportionate to his crimes when compared with the sentences imposed for the crimes described in the five cases cited by the State. Second, these cases vividly demonstrate why, when considering the proportionality of a sentence imposed, this court must look beyond the nomenclature of the crime charged and consider the facts of each particular case.
¶ 44 The inter-jurisdictional analysis requires comparison of punishments imposed for the same crime in other states. Bartlett II, 171 Ariz. at 310, 830 P.2d at 831. This court conducted such a comparison in Bartlett I. 164 Ariz. at 237-41 & nn. 4-5, 792 P.2d at 700-04 & nn. 4-5. What was true in 1990 when we decided Bartlett I remains true today; the sentence Davis received is much more severe than the minimum possible sentence a defendant could receive in any other state. [9] See supra ¶ 19. ¶ 45 The minimum sentence in Arizona for an offender who has no criminal history, but has been convicted of the offenses at issue here, is four thirteen-year sentences, which must run consecutively and for which there is no possibility of parole, for a total of fifty-two years. See A.R.S. § 13-604.01. In no other state would a defendant in similar circumstances face a minimum possible sentence exceeding twenty years, and in the few states in which a twenty-year sentence is possible, the sentencing judge has the discretion to reduce the sentence. E.g., R.I. Gen. Laws §§ 11-37-8.1 to -8.2 (2002). In nearly all states, a defendant guilty of similar crimes could receive concurrent sentences totaling fewer than five years' imprisonment. E.g., Cal.Penal Code §§ 261.5, 288(a) (West 1999), 1170 (West 1985 & Supp.2003), 1203 (West 1982 & Supp.2003), 3000 (West 2000 & Supp.2003) (setting the minimum sentence that could be imposed for Davis's offenses at three years, with the possibility of and eligibility for probation and parole); N.M. Stat. Ann. §§ 30-9-11(F) (Michie 1997 & Supp.2002), 31-18-15(A)(6), 31-18-15.1, 31-20-3, 31-20-5, 31-21-10 (Michie 2001) (providing for a sentence of eighteen months, probation- and parole-eligible). ¶ 46 In this case, the trial judge and the members of the jury thought Davis's sentence was clearly excessive. The pre-sentence report recommended a sentence in the range of five years, a proposal with which the victims' mothers agreed. Even the prosecutor recommended that Davis be eligible to immediately apply for clemency. But the trial judge was statutorily bound to impose a flat fifty-two-year sentence. In no other state would a sentencing judge be required to impose such a severe sentence. Davis's sentence, therefore, fails the third prong of the gross disproportionality test.
¶ 47 Although this court normally will not consider the imposition of consecutive sentences in a proportionality inquiry, this case cries out for departure from that general rule. See Bartlett I, 164 Ariz. at 239 n. 6, 792 P.2d at 702 n. 6. It is in part because judges in Arizona have no discretion regarding the minimum sentence and must impose consecutive sentences that this sentence fails the proportionality test. [10] See A.R.S. §§ 13-604.01(C) (requiring minimum sentence), 13-604.01(K) (requiring that sentences be served consecutively). Therefore, to ignore the requirement that the sentences be served consecutively would be to ignore one of the causes of the disproportionality. We recognize the legislature's right to impose a thirteen-year minimum sentence for dangerous crimes against children and to require that the sentences be served completely. We also recognize the legislature's right to require consecutive sentences for this type of offense. We cannot, however, uphold a sentence that becomes unconstitutionally disproportionate to the crimes committed because the sentences are mandatorily lengthy, flat, and consecutive. ¶ 48 Accordingly, while we recognize that Davis committed crimes worthy of severe punishment, we nonetheless find that the application of the mandatory sentencing provisions of the Dangerous Crimes Against Children Act creates an unconstitutionally disproportionate punishment in light of the specific facts and circumstances of Davis's offenses. We therefore vacate the sentences and remand this case to the trial court for resentencing for the offenses for which the convictions are affirmed as class two felonies, non-dangerous, pursuant to A.R.S. §§ 13-702, 13-702.01 and 13-702.02. ¶ 49 Let us be clear that we do not find Davis's sentence disproportionate simply because it seems too long. Nor are we merely substituting our judgment for the legislature's considered determination of the appropriate punishment for illegal sexual conduct with a minor. Sex forced on a minor by an adult may be a dangerous crime and the legislature may punish it as such. But we recognize that the Supreme Court has construed the Eighth Amendment to impose on a reviewing court the duty to examine a sentence claimed to be cruel and unusual in light of the specific facts and circumstances under which it is imposed. Having done so in this case, we abide by this court's determination that when a punishment is so severe as to shock the conscience of society, it violates the constitutional mandate. State v. Davis (Randal), 108 Ariz. 335, 337, 498 P.2d 202, 204 (1972). That Davis's fifty-two-year sentence shocks the societal conscience is apparent from the reactions of the trial judge, the jurors, and the victims' mothers. Accordingly, our conclusion that Davis's sentence violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against grossly disproportionate punishments is limited to the specific facts and circumstances in the record before us and is based on our determination that it is so disproportionate to the offenses that it shocks the moral sense of the court and community.