Court Opinion

ID: 9657833
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-23 20:39:04.074007+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T15:02:48.750213
License: Public Domain

*46Riley, J.
(concurring in part and dissenting in part). On February 24, 1988, while on probation for possession with the intent to deliver heroin, Kenneth Hasson delivered 15,042.40 grams of cocaine — worth an estimated $11 million on the street — to Ruth Bullock1 at Capital City Airport near Lansing, Michigan. Both Hasson and Bullock were convicted of possessing over 650 grams of cocaine2 and sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.3
While I agree with the majority that the Court of Appeals erred in reversing Hasson and Bullock’s convictions on the basis of the search and seizure issue, I am compelled to dissent from the majority’s conclusion that the mandatory penalty of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole is unconstitutional because it constitutes "cruel or unusual punishment” in violation of Const 1963, art 1, § 16.1 do so for three reasons.
First, I believe that People v Lorentzen, 387 Mich 167; 194 NW2d 827 (1972), the principle case relied on by the majority to support its conclusion, was wrongly decided and that proportionality is not, and has never been, a component of the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause of this state’s constitution. Const 1963, art 1, § 16. Second, I disagree with the majority that there is a "compelling reason” to interpret Const 1963, art 1, § 16 differently from the federal counterpart in the Eighth *47Amendment, analyzed by the United States Supreme Court in Harmelin v Michigan, 501 US —; 111 S Ct 2680; 115 L Ed 2d 836 (1991). And finally, I believe that the majority’s resolution of these cases violates the separation of powers doctrine mandated by our constitution.
Thus, I write separately to express my concern that, from this day forward, the citizens of the State of Michigan may rightfully conclude that
[w]hat the Court means is that a sentence is unconstitutional if it is more severe than five Justices [or in this case four] think appropriate. [Solem v Helm, 463 US 277, 305; 103 S Ct 3001; 77 L Ed 2d 637 (1983) (Burger, C.J., dissenting).]
I
The majority, relying on Lorentzen, supra, concludes that Const 1963, art 1, § 16 requires the Legislature to enact penalties proportional to the criminal offense. However, a careful analysis of Lorentzen reveals that the conclusion reached by the majority is clearly wrong. The Lorentzen decision is founded on the following four premises.
First, that this Court has construed the Michigan "cruel or unusual punishment” clause to mean that if a sentence is not in excess of a statute, then the Supreme Court has no control over the punishment imposed. Lorentzen, supra at 173.
Second, that this Court has determined that the prohibition against "cruel or unusual punishment” was an attempt by our founders to prevent the government from inflicting inhumane or barbarous punishment. Id. at 174.
Third, that the Legislature has the exclu*48sive power to determine the length of imprisonment for a felony. Id.
Fourth, that this Court has directly, or by inference, applied the test of proportionality to the sentence imposed when challenged under the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause. Id. at 174-175.
The Lorentzen Court then reached the following conclusion:
It will be seen from the above discussion of the leading United States Supreme Court case[4] and cases decided by this Court that the dominant test of cruel and unusual punishment is that the punishment is in excess of any that would be suitable to fit the crime. [Id. at 176.]
Because I am persuaded that the analysis in Lorentzen does not adequately support its fourth premise and ultimate conclusion, I dissent from my colleagues’ reliance on that case. I believe that a proper analysis of the cases illustrates that the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause was intended to prohibit inhumane and barbarous treatment of the criminally convicted, and does not have a proportionality component.
II. THE LORENTZEN CASES5
The first case in which this Court directly ad*49dressed the meaning of the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause was People v Morris, 80 Mich 634; 45 NW 591 (1890).6 Morris, convicted of stealing a horse, was sentenced under the pertinent statute to a mandatory seven years’ imprisonment. *50His argument (similar to the one made by the defendants in this case) was that the penalty prescribed in the statute was "cruel or unusual punishment” because it was greater than the penalties for similar criminal offenses. The Court rejected defendant’s argument that Const 1850, art 6, § 31 commands the Legislature to prescribe a punishment that is proportional to the criminal offense.
Counsel for defendants claims that, as properly understood, it means, when used in this connection, punishment out of proportion to the offense. If by this is meant the degree of punishment, we do not think the contention correct. [Id. at 638.]
In reaching this conclusion, the Morris Court relied on the original meaning of the clause and the reason for its inclusion in the Michigan Declaration of Rights.7
*51The Morris Court also relied on Justice Cooley’s treatise on Constitutional Limitations and the conclusion reached therein that punishment was not "cruel or unusual” if inflicted in the same way, or in a similar mode, as permitted by the common law. Cooley, Constitutional Limitations (4th ed), p 408, as quoted in Morris, supra at 639. Under Justice Cooley’s analysis, punishments forbidden by the clause were
"those degrading punishments, which in any state had become obsolete before its existing constitution was adopted, we think may well be held forbidden by it as cruel and unusual. We may well doubt the right to establish the whipping-post and the pillory in states where they were never recognized as instruments of punishment, ór in states whose constitutions, revised since public opinion had banished them, have forbidden cruel and unusual punishments. In such states the public sentiment must be regarded as having condemned them as cruel, and any punishment which, if ever employed at all, has become altogether obsolete, must certainly be looked upon as unusual.” [Id.]
Although the Morris Court discussed the proportionality argument in its opinion, it certainly did not rely on proportionality for its holding. Rather, in a separate portion of its analysis, the Court assumed arguendo that if proportionality were a component of the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause, the penalty prescribed by the Legislature in Morris would not violate Const 1850, art 6, § 31. Morris, supra at 639.
*52The Morris interpretation of the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause was followed by this Court until People v Mire, 173 Mich 357; 138 NW 1066 (1912), wherein, departing from precedent (Morris and its progeny),8 the Mire Court determined that a challenge to a sentence as "cruel or unusual punishment” focused on the act committed by the defendant, not the statute prescribing the penalty, thereby inferring that proportionality was to be considered in sentencing. However, the Mire interpretation was abandoned a decade later in Smith v Wayne Probate Judge, 231 Mich 409; 204 NW 140 (1925).9
In Smith, the law giving parents the right to sterilize their "feeble-minded children” was challenged. The issue raised was whether the means provided by the statute to "carry out its object are so cruel, inhuman, unreasonable and oppressive, that the legislature has no constitutional right to enforce them.” Id. at 416. However, before addressing the issue, the Court stated:_
*53The only purpose of this constitutional provision is to place a limitation on the power of the legislature in ñxing punishment for crimes. There is no element of punishment involved in the sterilization of feeble-minded persons. In this respect it is analogous to compulsory vaccination. Both are nonpunitive. It is therefore plainly apparent that the constitutional inhibition against cruel or unusual punishment had no application to the surgical treatment of feeble-minded persons. It has reference only to punishments inñicted after convictions of crimes. [Id. at 416. Emphasis added.]
For almost fifty years after the Smith decision (and before Lorentzen), the law in Michigan remained settled with regard to the meaning of the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause.10 When reviewing challenges to punishment as "cruel or *54unusual,” this Court uniformly applied two principles: 1) that the drafters of the state constitution were cognizant of the abuses imposed by the Stuarts, during the reign of King James II, and sought to prohibit the recurrence of the inhumane and barbarous treatment of criminals by restricting the type of punishment the Legislature could impose under the law; and 2) that the length of incarceration, although subject to the constitutional prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment, is a legislative choice not subject to judicial abrogation unless truly inhumane or barbarous. In sum, the conclusion reached by the majority today, relying on Lorentzen to justify a test of proportionality with regard to punishments prescribed by the Legislature, is simply untenable.
hi
"That the legislative solution appears undesirable, unfair, unjust or inhumane does not of itself empower a court to override the legislature and substitute its own solution.” [Doe v Dep’t of Social Services, 439 Mich 650, 681; 487 NW2d 166 (1992).]
In addition to my disagreement with the majority over the correctness of Lorentzen, I also do not agree with the reasons offered by my colleagues to conclude that Const 1963, art 1, § 16 commands a different meaning than that of the Eighth Amendment. First, the majority finds that the state constitution is an independent source of rights that supersedes federal law, and second, it concludes that there are "compelling reasons” to hold that Const 1963, art 1, § 16 is broader in scope than the Eighth Amendment, as currently construed by the United States Supreme Court in Harmelin, supra. I disagree with both arguments for the following reasons.
*55A
[T]he limits of legislative power are defined by our federal and state constitutions, not by the sentiment of the judiciary. [Doe, supra at 681.]
In its analysis of the role this Court plays in state constitutional adjudication, the majority first contends that the Michigan Constitution is an independent source of rights, different in scope from the federal counterpart, and that the federal court decisions interpreting the parallel constitutional provisions are not presumptively correct.11 I cannot subscribe to the majority’s argument because it is evidence of its decision to eschew the historical foundations which the Michigan constitutional provision shares with its federal counterpart.12 Furthermore, I view it as nothing more than an attempt to substitute a judicial policy choice for the policy choice already made by our Legislature.
Clearly evidencing its policy choice regarding control over the increased drug use in Michigan since 1978, the Michigan Legislature has twice amended the penalty provisions of the Controlled Substances Act, MCL 333.7401; MSA 14.15(7401), MCL 333.7403; MSA 14.15(7403). The first amendment, which took effect on March 30, 1988, reduced the mandatory minimum sentence for the possession of 225 grams, but less than 650 grams, from twenty years to ten. The mandatory minimum for possessing 50 to less than 225 grams was lowered from ten years to five at the same time. The statute was also amended to allow the sentencing court to depart from the minimum terms specified for all the amounts, except 650 grams or *56more, "if the court finds on the record that there are substantial and compelling reasons to do so.” MCL 333.7401(4); MSA 14.15(7401)(4), MCL 333.7403(3); MSA 14.15(7403)(3). However, the Legislature amended the act a second time in 1989, and reinstated the mandatory minimum prison terms to their original levels. The Legislature never amended the penalty for those convicted of possessing over 650 grams.
Admittedly, from time to time the legislative process may appear to be agonizingly slow and unresponsive. Frustrated in the quest for a legislated amendment, there may be those (including members of the Legislature) who would urge this Court to act, because the Legislature may not. However, while this Court may disagree with the legislative mandate of life imprisonment without parole for drug dealers, it is not within the power of this Court to correct the perceived injustice by judicially legislating a socially or politically desirable result. Yet in reaffirming the erroneous principle of Lorentzen that Const 1963, art 1, § 16 demands proportional sentences, the majority has assumed the power to do just that.
B
We believe that [a] compelling reason for an independent state construction might be found if there were significant textual differences between parallel provisions of the state and federal constitutions, and, particularly, if history provided reason to believe that those who framed and adopted the state provision had a different purpose in mind. [People v Collins, 438 Mich 8, 32; 475 NW2d 684 (1991) (opinion of Griffin, J.).]
In addition to my disagreement with my colleagues’ deviation from federal constitutional anal*57ysis, I believe that their opinion fails to advance a "compelling reason” for this Court to find the "no parole” statute unconstitutional under Const 1963, art 1, § 16 where the United States Supreme Court has found the statute to be valid under the Eighth Amendment in Harmelin.
In Harmelin, the United States Supreme Court reviewed the same statute that is currently before this Court and rejected the petitioner’s argument that mandatory life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for possessing 672 grams of cocaine violates the prohibition against "cruel and unusual punishment” under the Eighth Amendment. Id., 115 L Ed 2d 864-865. A majority of the Court, agreeing with part iv of Justice Scalia’s opinion, concluded that the " 'individualized capital sentencing doctrine,’ ” which takes into account the particular circumstances of the crime and of the criminal, only applies to capital cases and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole does not violate the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. Id., 115 L Ed 2d 865.
The majority, however, was divided over the correctness of Solem v Helm, supra, and the assumption that proportionality is a component of the cruel and unusual punishment clause. Justice Scalia, writing for himself and Chief Justice Rehnquist, reviewed the history of the clause and found that proportionality is not a component of the Eighth Amendment. Justice Kennedy, writing for himself and Justices O’Connor and Souter, felt constrained by stare decisis to hold that a narrow proportionality principle encompasses noncapital cases. However, these three justices were of the opinion that the dangers flowing from drug offenses and the circumstances of the crime demonstrate that the Michigan penalty scheme did not *58exceed constitutional limits, and that under the facts of the Harmelin case the accused’s sentence was not so disproportionate as to constitute cruel or unusual punishment. Id., 115 L Ed 2d 873-874. Justices White, Marshall, Stevens, and Blackmun dissented.
While I agree with Justice Scalia’s analysis and conclusion in Harmelin, supra, that "Solem was simply wrong; the Eighth Amendment contains no proportionality guarantee,” 115 L Ed 2d 846, I recognize that Harmelin is a plurality opinion. I base my finding that MCL 333.7403(2)(a)(i); MSA 14.15(7403)(2)(a)(i) is constitutional solely on the historical foundations of Const 1963, art 1, § 16. The majority submits three arguments for its deviation from Justice Scalia’s analysis, and, for that matter, from Justice Kennedy’s Eighth Amendment jurisprudence. In doing so, the majority advocates a broader right under Const 1963, art 1, § 16, with which I disagree for the following reasons.
1
To set aside petitioner’s mandatory sentence would require rejection not of the judgment of a single jurist, as in Solem, but rather the collective wisdom of the Michigan Legislature and, as a consequence, the Michigan citizenry. [Harmelin, 115 L Ed 2d 872-873 (Kennedy, J., concurring).]
The majority first contends that there is a "significant” textual difference in the Eighth Amendment (cruel and unusual punishment), from that in Const 1963, art 1, § 16 (cruel or unusual punishment), which enables the Court to give a "broader” interpretation of our constitutional prohibition against "cruel or unusual punishment.” Ante, p *5931. History, and this Court’s use of the text of the clause, does not support its conclusion.
It is true that the prohibition against cruel or unusual punishment has been part of this state’s constitutional jurisprudence for nearly two hundred years. Along with the panoply of rights incorporated in the Northwest Ordinance, Congress provided that, "[a]ll fines shall be moderate; and no cruel or unusual punishments shall be inflicted.” Northwest Ordinance 1787, art II.
The drafters of Michigan’s first constitution in 1835 incorporated the clause, but phrased it as a prohibition against "cruel and unjust punishments.” Const 1835, art 1, § 18. The phrase was changed to a prohibition against "cruel or unusual punishment” in 1850. Const 1850, art 6, § 31. The Reports of the Proceedings and Debates of the Constitutional Convention of 1850 (Debates), and the Journal of the Constitutional Convention of 1850 (Journal), do not suggest that the delegates replaced the phrase "and unjust” with "or unusual” to give our constitutional provision a greater source of rights than that of the parallel federal clause. As the majority concedes,13 there is *60no material to supplement the contention that there is a deliberate difference between the Eighth Amendment and our analogous provision.
Moreover, the delegates to each of the State Constitutional Conventions had the option of specifically including a proportionality component in the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause.14 Several jurisdictions had such a provision in their own bills of rights, even at the time the leaders of Michigan were first considering the clause in 1835. See also Harmelin, supra, 115 L Ed 2d 853-858 (opinion of Scalia, J.).
In 1963, when our most recent constitution was adopted by the people of the State of Michigan, there were five states that constitutionally mandated punishments proportional to the offense in the "cruel or unusual punishment” clauses.15 Presuming that the delegates of the 1963 Constitutional Convention were aware of these states’ provisions, they must have considered and rejected the idea of amending the existing clause to require sentences proportional to the offense.16
*61Therefore, contrary to the suggestion put forth by the majority,17 I can find no tenable reason to believe that the replacement of the conjunctive "and” by the disjunctive "or” supports the argument that the drafters of the state constitution intended for this Court to interpret the phrase differently from the meaning that the United States Supreme Court has given the Eighth Amendment.
2
"It is a fundamental principle of constitutional construction that we determine the intent of the framers of the Constitution and of the people adopting it.” [People v Collins, supra at 32 (opinion of Griffin, J.).]
The majority’s second "compelling reason” is that " 'history provide[s] reason to believe that those who framed and adopted the state provision had a different purpose in mind,’ 438 Mich 32— different, at any rate, from the historical understanding asserted by Justice Scalia.” Ante, pp 32-33. Again, for the reasons stated in section ii of my analysis, I must disagree with this conclusion.
*62The Michigan constitutional prohibition against "cruel or unusual punishment” shares the same historical foundation as the Eighth Amendment. Proportionality is not, and has never been, part of that history. Thus, because the Lorentzen decision is not well founded in the history of this provision, the assertion of an opposite conclusion cannot be seriously maintained.
Moreover, the argument advanced by the majority, that history supports a finding that the drafters of the most recent state constitution had a purpose in mind different from that of the Eighth Amendment, fails to take into account the history and events surrounding the debates of the delegates at the 1961 Constitutional Convention. Before 1961, the United States Supreme Court rejected the argument that the rights of the criminally accused contained in the Bill of Rights apply to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment. The Warren Court, however, significantly altered state constitutional jurisprudence when it began to use the Fourteenth Amendment as a tool to selectively incorporate the Bill of Rights and make it applicable to the states. The total effect of the selective incorporation doctrine was not yet known by the delegates to the 1961 Michigan Constitutional Convention because Mapp v Ohio, 367 US 643; 81 S Ct 1684; 6 L Ed 2d 1081 (1961), the first case incorporating a rule of criminal procedure to the states, was decided while the convention was meeting. 1 Official Record, Constitutional Convention 1961, pp 488-533, 674-688.
The delegates could not predict from the Mapp opinion that in the following decade, all but four of the Bill of Rights guarantees relating to the criminal justice process would be made applicable to the states by the United States Supreme Court. I am persuaded that by extending the guarantees *63of the federal constitution to the residents of our state, the delegates intended the interpretation of Const 1963, art 1, § 16 to parallel the corresponding federal provision.
Moreover, even assuming a compelling reason is required to deviate from federal jurisprudence, the majority fails to substantiate its assertion that history provides a "compelling reason” to find that those who framed and adopted the state provision had a different purpose in mind from those who framed the Eighth Amendment.
3
[T]he risk of assessing evolving standards [of decency] is that it is all too easy to believe that evolution has culminated in one’s own views. [Thompson v Oklahoma, 487 US 815, 865; 108 S Ct 2687; 101 L Ed 2d 702 (1988) (Scalia, J., dissenting).]
The third "compelling reason” advanced by the majority is premised on its belief that "the penalty at issue . . . constitutes an unduly disproportionate response to the serious problems posed by drugs in our society.” Ante, p 40. This observation parallels the one made in Lorentzen concerning the "evolving standards of decency.”
In responding to this issue, I believe that the amicus curiae supplemental brief of the Prosecuting Attorneys Association correctly identifies the problems with an evolving standards test. As their brief posits at pp 15-16, "if 'evolving standards of decency’ as to the appropriate (proportionate) sentence for a crime are to be the measure of the constitutionality of a legislatively set penalty, how is such an inquiry to be carried out? What is the measure? What informs the judgment? What tools *64does a court have to make it? What enables a court to overrule society’s expression of its 'standard of decency,’ communicated through statute, imposing a different standard, which is also supposed to be society’s standard and not the court’s? Would not the court’s role be to discover or identify society’s 'standard of decency’ — not what it should be, but what it is', and how better could society express [its] standard of decency than through its elected lawmakers? The alternative ... for the judiciary is that
"it is for us (the judiciary) to judge, not on the basis of what we perceive the Eighth Amendment originally prohibited, or on the basis of what we perceive the society through its democratic processes now overwhelmingly disapproves, but on the basis of what we think 'proportionate’ and 'measurably contributory to acceptable goals of punishment’ — to say and mean that, is to replace judges of the law with a committee of philosopher-kings. Stanford v Kentucky [492 US 361, 379; 109 S Ct 2969; 106 L Ed 2d 306, 324 (1989)].” [Opinion of Scalia, J., emphasis in original.]
Moreover, the same problem arises when a court relies on the "grossly disproportionate” theory. In tracking Justice Kennedy’s analysis in Harmelin, my colleague, Justice Boyle, suggests that "[t]o ensure appropriate deference to legislative judgments regarding the gravity of a particular crime, and the extent to which varying penological goals inform the scheme of punishment, a court’s threshold inquiries should be only whether the sentence is grossly disproportionate.” Post, p 72.
However, as I view it, the problem with a "grossly disproportionate” analysis is that, at best, it is a subjective standard to measure the constitutionality of a sentencing statute under Const 1963, *65art 1, § 16.1 am persuaded that our inquiry should not be whether a particular defendant’s sentence conflicts with what a justice of this Court might think proper but rather, as Justice Holmes recognized in his dissent in Lochner v New York, 198 US 45, 75-76; 25 S Ct 539; 49 L Ed 937 (1905):
Some . . . laws embody convictions or prejudices which judges are likely to share. Some may not. But a constitution is not intended to embody a particular [theory]. It is made for people of fundamentally differing views, and the accident of our finding certain opinions natural and familiar or novel and even shocking ought not to conclude our judgment upon the question whether statutes embodying them conflict with the Constitution of the United States.
Additionally, with all respect, I cannot agree with my colleague Justice Mallett’s conclusion that "the constitutional infirmity of the statute rests not with the no-parole feature, but with the statute’s mandatory uniform and blanket application to all defendants.” Ante, p 44. I believe that the Legislature has the constitutional power to enact mandatory sentences requiring uniform application to all defendants convicted of certain crimes. Indeed, the United States Supreme Court has opined that except with regard to capital sentences, mandatory sentences are constitutionally permissible. Sumner v Shuman, 483 US 66; 107 S Ct 2716; 97 L Ed 2d 56 (1987). However, more problematic, in my opinion, is the fact that Justice Mallett does not provide guidance to trial courts regarding what "substantial, compelling, objective and verifiable reasons” might render the penalty at issue unconstitutional as applied to a particular defendant. Ante, p 45. Again, while we may disagree with the denial of discretion in *66sentencing in light of individual factors in a particular case, I am persuaded that such determinations are solely within the province of the Legislature.
Not every state has a drug problem as severe as the State of Michigan, and the Legislature appears to have recognized this by penalizing drug dealers with nonparolable life imprisonment. Whether the legislation it enacted to address our drug problem is well conceived, or ill conceived, is not for this Court to decide. Our role is limited; we must make a principled neutral decision with regard to whether the legislative choice of punishment violates Const 1963, art 1, § 16 prescription against cruel or unusual punishment.18 If the question is whether punishment meets the "evolving standards, of decency,” the answer must come from the democratically elected representatives of the people: the Legislature.
*67IV
In sum, I believe that Lorentzen was wrongly decided, and that the majority has failed to proffer independent grounds or compelling reasons to support its conclusion that Const 1963, art 1, § 16 has a different meaning from that of the Eighth Amendment. In essence, my colleagues conclude that a sentence will be considered "cruel or unusual punishment” if a majority of this Court is uncomfortable with the punishment prescribed by the Legislature. The majority today, even in the face of pending legislation that would amend the Controlled Substances Act and reduce the penalties prescribed, has chosen, with deliberation, to step into the breach. However, the fact that the Legislature has not as yet amended the "no parole” provision of the Controlled Substances Act, is not a sound reason for this Court to assume the legislative mantle.19 Therefore, because I cannot persuade my colleagues to exercise restraint, I dissent.

 At the time of her arrest, Ruth Bullock had in her automobile one burnt marijuana cigarette remnant in the ashtray and another in the glove box, along with assorted cocaine paraphernalia and a bag of cocaine residue. On the front passenger seat, the arresting officer found and opened a large purse containing $1,200 in cash in a bank envelope and two banded $500 bundles of cash, along with several miscellaneous denominations totaling $3,000. A clutch purse, located inside the larger purse, contained Bullock’s identification, an additional $55 in cash, and another bag of cocaine residue.

 Pursuant to MCL 333.7403(2)(a)(i); MSA 14.15(7403)(2)(a)(i).

 As mandated by MCL 791.234(4); MSA 28.2304(4).

4 Weems v United States, 217 US 349; 30 S Ct 544; 54 L Ed 793 (1910).

 I note here that the majority challenges my analysis of the Lorentzen opinion. It appears clear, from the majority’s response, that we have an honest philosophical difference over the meaning of "cruel or unusual punishment” and the correctness of Lorentzen. Ante, p 35, n 18. The difference runs deep, even to the meaning of separation of powers. Ante, p 41, n 24. The majority does concede, however, that the Lorentzen Court allowed for differing interpretations of the case law it relied on. Ante, p 35, n 18. Therefore, I invite readers to review the cases referenced in Lorentzen to draw their own conclusions.

 The Lorentzen Court refers to several other cases decided by this Court before Morris which do not support a finding of proportionality in the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause. In Cummins v People, 42 Mich 142; 3 NW 305 (1879), the first reported decision in which this Court considered the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause of Const 1850, art 6, § 31, we rejected the argument that a sentence was "cruel or unusual” when the punishment imposed was within the penalty prescribed by the Legislature. Id. at 144. Nine years later, the Court struck down a penalty, under the "excessive fines” clause of Const 1850, art 6, § 31, that required a druggist to forfeit his business for five years after twice being convicted of violating the state liquor law. Robison v Miner, 68 Mich 549; 37 NW 21 (1888). The Robison Court surveyed the common law and concluded that the law had never inflicted such a severe penalty for any type of similar criminal behavior. Id. at 563. Chief Justice Sherwood agreed with the majority that the forfeiture penalty was an "excessive fine,” as prohibited by Const 1850, art 6, § 31, but admonished his colleagues to
pause long and consider well the action by the Legislature in establishing [the penalties], before it will say those fixed by its enactments are so far in excess of what is necessary to furnish the protection desired as to be obnoxious to the Constitution .... [Id. at 574.]
It is important to note that the Robison Court did not refer to Cummins because the issue in Robison was whether a fine was "excessive” under the state liquor law, rather than whether the fine was "cruel or unusual punishment.” A few months later, the Court was asked to clarify its position in Robison and determine if the penalty for violating the liquor law as a first offender was also constitutionally defective as an "excessive fine.” Luton v Newaygo Circuit Judge, 69 Mich 610; 37 NW 701 (1888). Although uncomfortable with the penalty, the Court held that it was not an excessive fine.
While we may think this penalty a very severe one for a first offense, yet it is one within the discretion of the Legislature, with which discretion the courts cannot interfere. . . . Whether such distinction was made wisely or unwisely is no concern of the courts, provided the Legislature had the power to make it. The injustice of the statute, if it exists, must be remedied by the people through the Legislature. [Id. at 613-614. Emphasis added.]
Next, in People v Murray, 72 Mich 10; 40 NW 29 (1888), the defendant challenged his conviction and sentence of fifty years for a *50statutory rape as "cruel or unusual punishment” under Const 1850, art 6, § 31. The challenge to his punishment, however, was not aimed at the underlying statute (permitting indeterminate sentencing), but rather to the penalty imposed by the trial judge. The Murray Court found:
Where the punishment for an offense is for a term of years, to be fixed by the judge, it should never be made to extend beyond the average period of persons in prison life, which seldom exceeds 25 years. [Id. at 17.]
Although cited in Lorentzen, the Court, in People v Armstrong, 73 Mich 288; 41 NW 275 (1889), never addressed the issue that the defendant’s punishment was "cruel or unusual,” because it found that the municipality did not have the authority to enact the ordinance in question. Therefore, the city could not enforce it against the defendant. See id. at 296.

 The Morris Court began its discussion by recognizing the principle enunciated in Luton.
With the policy of the law it is not our province to deal. That belongs to the Legislature, which is composed of representatives direct from the people, and who alone have the right to voice the sentiments of the people in the public enactments. *51When those sentiments are enacted into law, the only province of the Court is to determine their validity under the Constitution. The rule by which courts must be governed in such cases is as follows:
"When a statute is challenged as in conflict with the fundamental law, a clear and substantial conflict must be found to exist to justify its condemnation.” [Id. at 637.]

 See also People v Smith, 94 Mich 644, 646; 54 NW 487 (1893) (a statute providing a greater penalty for receiving stolen property than for larceny is not cruel or unusual punishment); People v Whitney, 105 Mich 622, 626-627; 63 NW 765 (1895) (the Legislature has the power to impose strict penalties for violating state liquor laws); People v Huntley, 112 Mich 569, 577; 71 NW 178 (1897) (a statute providing for prison inmates who commit crimes in prison to be held to the same punishment as free citizens who commit crimes outside of prison does not violate the cruel or unusual punishment clause); People v Cook, 147 Mich 127, 133; 110 NW 514 (1907) ("[i]t is laws providing for cruel and unusual punishments that the Constitution refers to and prohibits, and not sentences by courts under constitutional laws”).

 The reference made by the Lorentzen Court to People v Dumas, 161 Mich 45; 125 NW 766 (1910), decided after Mire and before Smith, as "directly or by inference apply the test of proportionality to the sentence imposed” is equally misplaced. Lorentzen, supra at 176. One issue raised in Dumas was whether the trial'court abused its discretion in imposing a life sentence, under the indeterminate sentencing statute, for second-degree murder. After reviewing the record, the Court found that it did not. The Dumas Court never considered, directly or indirectly, the defendant’s sentence in light of the "cruel or unusual punishment” clause.

 See People v Jagosz, 253 Mich 290; 235 NW 160 (1931) (a sentence of twelve to thirty years for rape was not "cruel or unusual punishment”); People v Cramer, 247 Mich 127, 136; 225 NW 595 (1929) (the penalty for not reporting a live birth within five days was not "cruel or unusual punishment”); Steele v Sexton, 253 Mich 32, 36; 234 NW 436 (1931) (the loss of a right to high school credits and a graduate diploma, on the basis of a wilful violation of a statute, was not "cruel or unusual punishment”); People v Paton, 284 Mich 427, 429; 279 NW 888 (1938) (the sentence for breaking and entering was within the statute and was not "cruel or unusual punishment”); People v Harwood, 286 Mich 96, 98; 281 NW 551 (1938) (five to fifteen years imprisonment for placing a foul substance in a taxicab was not "cruel or unusual punishment” since it is within the statute provided by the Legislature); In re Ward, 295 Mich 742, 746; 295 NW 483 (1940) (a sixty-day imprisonment for twice failing to answer to a, grand jury was not "cruel or unusual punishment” within the meaning of the clause); In re Southard, 298 Mich 75, 80-81; 298 NW 457 (1941) (the length of a sentence for a felony conviction is a legislative task and not subject to judicial supervision); People v Sarnoff, 302 Mich 266; 4 NW2d 544 (1942) (imprisonment for a continual violation of a municipality’s building code cannot be characterized as "cruel or unusual punishment”; the phrase applies to something inhumane and barbarous, torture and the like); People v Commack, 317 Mich 410, 415; 26 NW2d 924 (1947) (the penalty for statutory rape was not "cruel or unusual” since the sentence was within the statutory limits); In re Doelle, 323 Mich 241, 245; 35 NW2d 251 (1948) (the length of imprisonment for a specific felony is a matter of legislative determination and is not subject to judicial supervision unless the sentence imposed violates provisions of the statute).

 Cavanagh, C.J., ante, pp 27-29.

 See ii.

 Cavanagh, C.J., ante, p 30, n 11.
There is no authority in our constitutional history or in the common law to support the assumption .made by the majority that the drafters debated this phrase and concluded that the conjunctive "and” be omitted and replaced with the disjunctive "or” to permit a broader interpretation of our constitutional phrase than the Eighth Amendment.
The Debates, p 896, reveal the pertinent portion of § 31 of art 6 as "and cruel and unusual punishment shall not be inflicted . . . .” The Journal, however, presents the same phrase, p 478, as "and cruel or unusual punishment shall not be inflicted . . . .” Both documents note the adoption of an amendment which directed that the word "and” before the word "cruel” was to be stricken. Debates, p 897; Journal, p 480. The deletion appears in the enrolled version of the constitution found at p 538 of the Journal and p xxx of the Debates, which version also contains the word "or.”
The only reference to this clause in the Debates was made by Delegate Hanscom who predicted that including any “undefinable” *60terms, such as " 'excessive bail,’ ” and " 'unusual punishments,’ ” which "seemed to him to involve absurdity on its face,” had little "beneficial effect on the action of courts.” Debates, p 45.

 It is noteworthy to mention that the convention debates of 1908 and 1963 reveal that the same phrase, "cruel or unusual punishment,” was preserved without any floor debate by the delegates. Const 1908, art 2, § 15, and Const 1963, art 1, § 16.

 Ind Const, art 1, § 16; Me Const, art 1, § 9; W Va Const, art 3, § 5; Vt Const, ch 2, § 39; RI Const, art 1, § 8.

 Additionally, it did not seem to matter to the Lorentzen Court that there is a- discernible difference between the conjunctive "and” and the disjunctive "or” when devising the proportionality component to the cruel or unusual punishment clause of Const 1963, art 1, § 16. In the cases relied upon by the Lorentzen Court to devise the proportionality component, the opinions use the words "and” and "or” synonymously. See also Morris, supra. Similarly, throughout the Lorentzen opinion itself, the Court uses the two words interchangeably when addressing claims arising under the Michigan constitutional prohibition against "cruel or unusual punishment.” ("In this opinion, we consider only Lorentzen’s claim that the statute *61. . . violates the United States and the Michigan constitutional prohibitions against cruel and unusual punishment.” Lorentzen, supra at 171 [emphasis added]. "In People v Morris, . . . [we] rejected the proposition that cruel and unusual punishment constituted punishment out of proportion to the offense.” Lorentzen, supra at 175 [emphasis added].)
In separate partial concurrences and partial dissents, Justices Williams and T. G. Kavanagh also used the word "and” instead of "or” in concurring in result. ("I agree with his reasoning . . . that the mandatory 20-year minimum sentence is invalid as cruel and unusual punishment.” Id. at 182 [T. G. Kavanagh, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part, emphasis added]. "[T]he 20 year mandatory minimum sentence is invalid as cruel and unusual punishment.” Id. at 182 [Williams, J., concurring in part and dissenting in part, emphasis added].)

 Cavanagh, C.J., ante, p 30, n 11.

 The majority’s contention that under my analysis "it would seem to follow . . . that this Court would be compelled to uphold such a penalty even if imposed on a child for stealing a loaf of bread, or on a forgetful taxpayer who fails to file a return on time,” (ante, p 41, n 24) supposes that such an extreme example of legislative action will occur. Neither the present case nor any other relied on by the majority in its analysis presents such an extreme example of legislative action.
In his book, Democracy and Distrust (Harvard University Press, 1980), Professor John Hart Ely pondered the constitutionality of an extreme example of legislative action: specifically, a hypothetical statute passed by a crazed legislature prohibiting gall bladder operations except to save a person’s life. His response was that the statute could not pass, and, if it did, it would be repealed and the representatives who passed it probably impeached. To the claim that perhaps that also would not happen, the representatives and the public all " 'just acting crazy,’ ” and there being no possibility of reasoning with them, Professor Hart responded, " '[y]ou know what you’re telling me? That you don’t believe in democracy.’ ” Id. at 182. He then concluded that "it can only deform our constitutional jurisprudence to tailor it to laws that couldn’t be enacted, since constitutional law appropriately exists for those situations where representative government cannot be trusted, not those where we know it can.” Id. at 183 (emphasis added).

 Moreover, the inappropriateness of the majority’s journey into the legislative arena is highlighted by its acknowledgment that its decision
may have the effect of creating an arguable incongruity in the statutory scheme governing cocaine possession [ante, p 43, n 26],
thus underscoring the writer’s point that this is quintessentially a legislative matter.