The concept of proportionality in sentencing is similar to the concept ________.

• A. Guilty until proven innocent
• B. The punishment should fit the crime
• C. Innocent until proven guilty
• D. The punishers should flog the criminal

Answer: (B)

Proportionality in sentencing means the penalty should reflect the seriousness of the offense and the offender’s level of blame. It’s about calibrating punishment so that it matches the harm caused and the culpability involved, avoiding penalties that are too harsh for minor crimes or too lenient for serious ones. This aligns with the idea that the punishment should fit the crime. For example, a petty theft should carry a much lighter consequence than a violent assault, because the harm and culpability differ significantly. The other ideas touch on how guilt is determined or prescribe an extreme punitive method, but they don’t express the balancing, matching relationship between offense severity and punishment that proportionality requires.