Likewise, in McGruder v. Puckett, 954 F.2d 313 (5th Cir. 1992), the court affirmed a life sentence without possibility of parole imposed on an habitual offender where the infraction that triggered the life sentence was the offense of auto burglary. Applying the Harmelin analysis, as articulated by Justice Kennedy, the court dismissed the defendant's argument that life in prison without possibility of parole was grossly disproportionate to the crime of auto burglary."We think that the argument ignores the essence of the statute under which he was sentenced . . . . Under the statute, his sentence is imposed to reflect the seriousness of his most recent offense, not as it stands alone, but in the light of his prior offenses." McGruder, 954 F.2d at 316.

These two opinions also reflect what has been, until today, the consensus of the federal courts with regard to the scope of proportionality review under Harmelin. ² These cases

Constitution. That case, Henderson v. Norris, 258 F.3d 706 (8th Cir. 2001), involved a first time drug offender, not an habitual offender as is the case here.
²See, e.g., United States v. Cardoza, 129 F.3d 6, 19 (1st Cir. 1997) (affirming sentence of 20 years imprisonment for possession of a single bullet when defendant had a prior felony history); United States v. Prior, 107 F.3d 654, 659 (8th Cir. 1997) (affirming life sentence for drug offender who, though he had three prior felony drug convictions, had never before served a prison term).

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