Three Strikes and You're Out

Three Strikes and You're out

Kimberly Reynolds was murdered in 1992 in Fresno, California. Her death accounted for one percent of the all homicides committed in the county. Her Father Mike Reynolds spoke to the television cameras across the United States. Mike wanted justice for Kimberly's death. When the killers were found both men were responsible for the murder of Mike's daughter. Mr. Reynolds thought about a punishment that would scare them for life. The second man who was involved in the murder was sentenced to nine years and paroled during his imprisonment. Mr Reynolds took action and drafted California's Three Strikes and You're Out" law. Mike Reynolds said, "the Three Strikes Law is a simple law and would be approved but at the end it was complicated".

In the early 1990s some states in the U.S. began to enact a sentence law for criminal offenders. It was known as the "the strikes law". This law is involved offenders who committed a third offense. In 2003 more than half of the states enacted the three strikes law. Many people thought that this law would get criminals off of the streets. However, some civilians thought that the people were being charged disproportionately for crimes. Civilians also thought that incarcerating of inmates for twenty- five years to life would become costly. Nevertheless, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the three strikes law and rejected an argument called Cruel and Unusual Punishment. The state of Washington passed the first three strikes law in 1993. If anyone was convicted for any of the three violent felonies they would be sentenced to life in prison with no chance for parole. A year later the state of California enacted the three strikes law, and it mandated sentences of twenty five years to life for third felony convictions. Unlike, Washington, California's law counts nonviolent felonies, such as burglary, theft as "strike offenses". The popularity of the three strikes law in California has been pronounced. By 2001 over 50,00 criminals have been sentenced under the new law, far more than other states, with almost one-quarter of inmates facing mandatory twenty-five year prison sentences. California alone has drawn the most attention in the debate over the three strikes law. The California law originally gave judges no discretion in setting prison terms for three strikes offenders. However, the California Supreme Court ruled, in 1996, that judges, in the interest of justice, could ignore prior convictions in determining whether an offender qualified for a three strikes sentence. Prosecutors have greater discretion; they may decide whether to count certain crimes as strikes when they file their criminal complaint. Critics have charged that this system introduces the worst of both worlds: mandatory sentences for those charged under the law and unequal application of the law. The disparity in the prosecutorial use of the Californian law has meant that the law is rarely used in San Francisco but it is used heavily in other parts of the state. Some supporters of the three strikes law argued that plummeting crime rates since the 1990s were due to the tough new sentencing scheme. In California 1,200 offenders were sentenced per year under the three strikes law. It was a success because offenders are off the street for at least twenty-five years and not able to harm people. Since the three strikes law people who have committed a number of violent crimes has rarely drawn more criticism. There were concerns about fairness, proportionality of the law have been raised when an offender is sent to prison for twenty five years for shoplifting or some other minor property crime. Many people do not know that a convicted felon could receive the same amount of time for commiting a minor criminal offense as one who created a more serious criminal offense. For example a felon convicted of a third strike could recive a twenty five to life sentence for the conviction of a shoplifting offense and a felon convicted of a third strike for commiting a murder may receive that same sentence. The people who receive long sentences for minor offenses seems unreasonable under the cruelty and unusual punishment clause. By the late 1990s the number of appeals had been raised in the state federal courts based on the disproportionate argument. I believe the California Three Strikes law is unfair.

An example, of a person who got punished happened to man named Leandro Andrade who became a focal point of the argument. Andrade was convicted of two felonies: shoplifting nine video tapes from two Kmart Stores. The stolen money was estimated around $153.54. Under the California law, he would be penalized up to six months in a county jailed and fined up to one $1,000 dollars. At the end the prosecutor had to elevate the charges to felony level offenses. Leandro Andrade who was a heroin addict, burglar, and theft was charged with two counts of felony theft.

A ballot reforming the California's Three Strikes Law was approved by a significant majority of California voters. The passing was a wide margin of 68.6 percent to 31.4 percent. The day before the votes are counted, the state allowed the imprisonment of a life sentence on an individual's third felony conviction. The revised law would require that the third offense would be a serious or violent crime. It would not include minor criminal offenses such as writing a horrible check or stealing socks from Target. The state of California imposed the Three Strikes law in 1994 and it is one of the toughest laws in the country. After passing the law the state has had many problems: now we spend a large percent of our budget on prisons, in fact we spend more on prisons than higher education.

The Three Strikes Law is increasing prison sentences for people who are convicted felons. These offenders are getting punished for more than a prison sentence. These violent offenses are enlisted in the state law. These violent offenses that felons are doing are murdering and robbing residential areas using weapons, guns, knives, pepper spray etc and for violent crimes such as rape. This is how the system works if a person gets convicted of a felony the second strike offense any sentence is twice more crucial than the requirement. Under the law for the new conviction on March 2013, about 33,000 inmates who were convicted for second strikers. Once you receive your third strikes you will receive 25 years prison. In March 2012 an estimate of nine thousand inmates were convicted for third strikes. They also have to fulfill the requirements they are assigned to do. A second striker is released earlier than a third striker. The third striker is only released upon the approval of the State Board of Hearings, serve a term in prison and the BPH panel of consideration of hearings. California Three Strikes