This is a question asked with the asp.net in mind, but since somebody did mention Rails, I thought it would be interesting to consider the problem in that context. In Rails, it is natural and pretty common to perform the sorting along with the retrieval as a controller action, since the framework and ActiveRecord/ActiveQuery api provisions for it. On the other hand, it is possible to define some sort of custom sort order for static items and put that in the model to be used by the controller, so the model can play a part in the sorting logic even though it does not carry out the operation directly. Whatever it is, it can be safe to say that putting the sort logic in the view is generally frown upon.
I'm slightly amused that some answers are absolutely against putting the sort in either the controller or the model, and I find them too pedantic for my taste, but I suppose it depends on the nature of the framework used and the usual conventions associated with it. I also agree with Bill K's comment that having the separation in the first place is more important.
