Three Strike Law Research Paper

The 3 Strikes Crime Law is one of the nation’s harshest sentencing laws. Are you aware that even non-violent criminals are sentenced to life in prison under the 3 Strikes Crime Law? More than 4,000 non-violent criminals are currently serving life in sentence in prison in California alone. (Vega & Galloway, 2012). If you take these outrageous numbers and add them to the rest of the nations non-violent criminal statistics the numbers are shocking. The 3 Strikes Crime Law is a violation of the 8th Amendment, as the maximum penalty for non-violent offenders is severe, unjust, and

In retrospect, should the three strikes law in Texas be amended or abolished? There is an on-going problem that our society faces, and that is prison over-population. According to The Texas Tribune, as of August 2016, there are 143,252 inmates in the Texas prison system. Would an abolishment of the three strikes rule help to alleviate the over-population of Texas prisons? California felt it important enough to take a look at their policy and amended it, should Texas do the same? Many will argue that if an individual commits a third felony that they should be incarcerated for life as they are a menace to society and not helping that community to evolve and become better. The three strikes law is something that can always be argued for

The "three strike law" increases the prison sentence of an individual convicted of a felony who has been previously convicted of two or more felonies, and limits the offender to receive anything but a punishment of a life sentence. Twenty-six of the fifty states implement laws that meet the same criteria that would be considered as a " three strike" law. This law was designed to keep those more likely to commit another crime out of the general public however, decrease in violent crimes after this law was implemented is opposing. This essay brings reflection upon how justifiable the third strike rule is.

Throughout the years, there has been much controversy weather The Three Strike Law is cruel and unjust. Was the intent to get violent repeat officers incarcerated for a long period, or to get all offenders with three strikes off the streets? Within hours, after the law went into effect California had its first offender, arrested while attempting to a steal a car radio and two nonviolent burglaries on his record, a homeless schizophrenic, Lester Wallace, sentenced to twenty-five years. He has been sexually and physically attacked, suffered seizures, developed back problems, and end- stage renal disease. Although within months California reformed the law, the state wont released this dying man. Curtis Wilkerson strolled into a department store,

Between 1993 and 1995, 24 states and the federal government adopted some form of the three strikes law, which reduced judicial discretion practices and mandated severe incarceration periods to those who were convicted of three or more felonies (Peak, 2012). The rational of the three-strikes you are out law was an attempt to protect society and deter crime by targeting repeat offenders such as murders, rapists, and child molesters by locking them up for long periods of time. The law was built around a political push in the early nineties adopted around public perception that the prison system was lenient on criminals and society needed to get tough on crime. While the three-strike law was intended

The three strikes law implemented in the 1990s as deterrence for a crime. Even though the three strikes law created to remove those considered a threat to society, many agree that this law needs revamping. Studies show that the three strikes law has not detoured crime drastically, but has been successful in removing repeat offenders from endangering the public again. This law included crimes that were nonviolent or petty crimes counted as a third strike in California. The state of California has been one of the cities with the biggest incarceration rate since the three strikes law enacted.

The criminal justice issue that has been chosen as the topic on this course project is the “three strike” sentencing and how it should be abolished. The three strike sentencing was established in 1994 under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. (Harris, 1995). In this act, the statute of three strike sentencing provides a mandatory life imprisonment sentence for convicted felons that have been convicted in a federal court for a serious

Since 1994, New Mexico City had seen a drastic increase in their crime rates after the three strikes law was enacted in the state. The drastic increase in crime rate after the three strikes law was passed is one of the few reasons why New Mexico city to be known as a second hazardous nation in the United States. In New Mexico, the three strikes law is mainly only enforced for five specific strikes where the city police and court will be able to take an action against those repeat criminals for their crimes. Five specific strikes where the court or police can take action are Kidnapping, shooting, criminal sexual penetration, murder, and armed robbery. However, if there were more crimes were added to the New Mexico strikes then there would have been so many less crimes that would have taken place on the streets. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “Prisoners in 2013” by E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician shows that in Table 1 prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities by sex, December 31, 2012 and 2013, in New Mexico there were about 6,727 people who were arrested for committing serious crimes where there 6,096 male, and 631 female in 2012. Moreover, in 2013, in New Mexico there were about 6,849 prisoners who were arrested for committing crimes where there were 6,195 male and 654 female. This statistics shows that after the three strikes law was ratified, there was dramatically increased in the prison

The state of California has the third largest prison system in the world and the largest in the United States. To understand how California got to this point in prison reform, you have to go back as far as 1994 when Proposition 184 was approved by voters with a 72% majority vote. Proposition 184 was the strictest "three strikes" sentencing law in the United States, which doubled the penalty for a second felony if the first one was serious or violent and carried a mandatory prison sentence of 25 years to life for a third felony (Greenwood, 1994). California went a step further by being one of the only states where the third felony did not have to be a serious or violent crime to count. The expansion of the three–strikes legislation

This reduction eventually helped to deter criminals with the threat of increased incarceration. It has also been proven that three-strikes laws reduce felony arrest rates. People in favor of three-strikes laws believe that it is an example of effective crime control, a preventive measure for career felons, adds additional peace of mind for citizens, and provides harsher punishments for habitual offenders. On the other hand, those who are against the use of three strikes laws suppose that it adds an additional cost to courts and prisons, causes an over-population in prison cells, is an example of an unfair law, and is a result of the decline in the number of law enforcement officer

My opinion of the 3 strikes law is that an unfair law because after 3 offenses or strikes a person can be incarcerated for 25 years. This law incarcerates people for non-violent offenses but also for violent crimes as well. A person’s last offense no matter how non-violent the crime at be sentenced to 25 years to life. The 3 strikes law should only apply to violent offenders because a person should no be sent to prison to serve 25-year sentence for a non-violent crime. I believe this law is effective in crime control because it causes the offender to be cautious of their actions, but it also causes fear to those who committed nonviolent crimes. “Crime rates may really be dropping because potential criminals now fear punishment and are being deterred from crime” (Siegel, Ch. 4-8a). Two-time offenders are more likely to steer clear from crime because of

According to UC Riverside sociologist Robert Nash Parker, the answer is no. “Declining crime rates in California and nationwide reflect declines in alcohol consumption, not tough-on-crime policies such as three-strikes laws.” (Three Strikes Law, 2012) Parker analyzed crime data nationwide. While nationally violent crime is down, California’s violent crime rate declined at the same rate as states with no Three Strike laws, including large states such as Texas, New York and Illinois "This suggests that whatever is driving the trend in violent crime over the last 46 years in these states it is not three-strikes policy," Parker concluded (Three Strikes Law, 2012). Many violent crimes are not premeditated. They are carried out in anger or the heat of the moment with little disregard of consequences such as prison time or Three Strikes. Many times those committing violent crimes are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

It is hard if not impossible to justify using a person as a means of promoting some good if doing so will harm him (Walen, 2016, p.741), I think the punishment of the three strikes law is extremely excessive for non-violent crimes. The Three Strikes statue provides for mandatory life imprisonment if a convicted felon has been convicted for a serious violent felony. Most repeat offenders are not discouraged from committing violent acts of crime and because of this reason the habitual sentencing does not work as a

On December 4, 1993, the authorities discovered the body of twelve-year-old Polly Klaas in a grave just off Highway 101. On October 1, 1993, Polly had a slumber party at her mother’s house in Petaluma, CA. While the girls were playing in her bedroom, an unknown man walked in with a knife in his hands. He advised the girls not to scream, proceeded to tie up the two friends and put pillowcases over their heads and then advised the girls to count to one thousand, giving him time to exit the house with Polly. Approximately twenty minutes later the girls freed themselves and woke up Polly’s mother, who then called the cops. For two months, nearly four thousand volunteers joined local and federal law enforcements, the Coast Guard and even members

On paper, this law sounds like a solid plan to prevent dangerous criminals from repeating crimes. The issue with this law was the abuse of power that rode on its coattails. The criminal justice system was handing down harsh sentences to non-violent, non-serious offenders, marking them with their second and third strikes. African Americans that are punished under the three strikes law, account for 13 times more than white offenders for similar crimes (Three Strikes Law Disproportionately Affects Blacks, 2004).