proportionality review
proportionality review. Criminal law. An appellate court’s analysis of whether a death sentence is arbitrary, capricious, or excessive by comparing the case in which it was imposed with similar cases in which the death penalty was approved or disapproved. [Cases: Sentencing and Punishment 1788(6).C.J.S. Criminal Law §§ 1531–1532, 1534–1538, 1541–1543, 1608, 1703–1706, 1709.]