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Three Strikes Laws: Habitual Offenders

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The crime statistics in America are alarming. Crime is out of control. Law abiding citizens are afraid to leave their homes. The Three Strikes laws imposed federally and by more than half the states currently, was supposed to make the streets safer for everyone. Imprisoning violent criminals for 25 years to life for continuing to commit violent felonies seems like a good idea. But is the law being used in the way in which it was intended? Are the prisons being overcrowded with petty criminals who can be reformed? Should something referred to as transitional-age youth provide some defense for young offenders? The statistics show that having the habitual offender laws in place does not deter crime. The habitual offenders most often do …show more content…

Kenneth Anderson was featured in the PBS documentary “The Return”. Mr. Anderson had recently been released from prison under Proposition 36, a change in the Three Strikes law. Before the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 or Proposition 36, anyone committing their third felony, regardless of the nature of the crime, could be sentenced under the Three Strikes law to spend at least 25 years and as much as life in prison. Proposition 36 changed the law to state that the third felony conviction must be of a violent or severe nature (ballotpedia.org, 2012). Kenneth Anderson had been twice convicted of robbery many years before his third conviction. Kenneth was married to Monica. Together they had four children. Mr. Anderson attempted to start his own janitorial business. Due to his lack of training and knowledge of the janitorial business, the business was not profitable. To ease the shame and humiliation for not being able to provide for his family, Mr. Anderson turned to drugs. He would steal to get the money for his drug habit. Mr. Anderson’s third strike was for purse snatching. Because of his two previous convictions, Mr. Anderson was sentenced under the Third Strike law to send a minimum of 25 years in prison. He served 12 years of that sentence (The Return,

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The Three Strikes law is a way to ensure justice and to stop criminals from committing more crimes. According to Adam Gelb, director of the Pew Center's Public Safety

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California’s Three Strikes Law was implemented in order to improve public safety. The murders of Polly Klaas and Kimber Reynolds caused the citizens of California to request a reactive measure in order to improve California’s preventive safety measures. Polly Klaas and Kimber Reynolds were both murdered by repeat offenders. The murders resulted in a public outcry and a petition was started in order to improve the sentencing requirements for repeat offenders (Skelton, 1993). The Three Strikes Law became a source of controversy due to the fact that many people argued that the law was in violation of the Eighth Amendment, which states that, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments

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Recently, the government has developed a tactic called the "three-strike rule. " This law was enacted in 1994 by Congress and the Clinton administration. The purpose of the law was to give longer sentences to those who were previously convicted of a violent or severe felony to prevent them from being released and doing a crime again. Due to this law being passed, many minorities stayed in prison for most of their lives. This caused the government and private companies to build more prisons and profit from them.

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The maximum length is set by legislators and the judge imposes the length of the sentence up to the maximum. Mandatory sentences are set by legislators instead of judges. Mandatory sentences set a penalty for certain crimes that is the standard for all offenders convicted of that crime. I do not believe three-strike laws should be implemented across

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According to an article by the ACLU, the three strikes law should be opposed. One of their reasons was that the three strikes law could lead to more violence. “Many law enforcement professionals oppose the "3 Strikes" law out of fear such laws would spur a dramatic increase in violence against police, corrections officers and the public” (ACLU, n.d.). Another reason why the three strikes law should be opposed, is because the three strikes will have a disproportionate impact on minority offenders. Being a minority is hard enough, minority offenders may be targeted and will receive more life sentences under three strikes rule.

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In 2009, California was ordered by a federal court to reduce their overcrowded prison population by 138 percent. The state had a massive incarceration rate during the “tough on crime” era (Alternative to Incarceration in California, 2015). In 1994, California had enacted a Three Strike Law. This law allows for offenders who have been convicted of a serious felony to be sentence to a prison term twice as long if they had a prior conviction. If they had two or more prior convictions then they would be mandated to a sentence of 25 years to life (California Courts,

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In other words, mandatory sentencing for repeating offenders that have not learned their lesson and also so they stop committing crimes in the street since they are imprisoned. What the law basically states is that if you are a felon that has two felonies in their record and gets charged with a third felony, you must received the maximum sentence for the type of felony. With this law follows a lot of controversy. Some people believe that it is too harsh and can ruin a person's life. Others believe it is well deserved as you get 3 chances to better yourself.

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However, crimes are committed whilst in prison, such as drugs and assaults. Some critics say the ‘three strikes and you are out’ law where repeat offenders get a longer sentence are wrong, as the third strike could be a lesser crime such as public disorder. Nevertheless, if just incapacitation and no rehabilitation some critics say will be costlier to society as they will go out and reoffend and, they are not employed and pay taxes. Rehabilitation is also a punishment which should improve the offender's behaviour and stop them committing crimes. Advocates of rehabilitation state prison does not work; however, critics of rehabilitation state prison does work as the criminal cannot commit a crime against the public while incarcerated (Cavadino, 2007 p 36/56).

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