Sanjay Marwah (University of California) & Jerry Wayne Joplin (Guilford College) has posted Modernizing and Activating Beccaria's Proportionality (Journal of Theoretical & Philosophical Criminology, 12: 37-51, 2020) on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Cesare Beccaria (1738-1794) offered a progressive view of punishment centered on a law-based proportionality for fair and effective crime prevention. Moderation of severity was placed in the hands of legislators and in the laws. Political proportionality, which eschews moderation of severity, dominates modern crime prevention. Current preferences for legal decision-making reflects generalized disproportionality applicable to all offenders. The limits of legislative and politicized proportionality necessitate modifying Beccaria’s proportionality to modern contexts, and the principle and concept of specific proportionality offer a viable alternative. Contextualization, inquiry, and intra-legal engagement underpin discretion-based specific proportionality. Modernizing proportionality, while presenting some challenges, offers significant benefits to society.