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Three-Strike Modifications

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Effects of Three-Strike Laws and Modifications 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 …show more content…

For instance, California was one of the first to adopt the three-strike law by imposing a 25 to life sentence for almost any crime if the offender had two prior convictions considered to be serious under Penal Code (Stanford Law School, 2015). While the law was enacted to protect society from violent offenders, more than half of the inmates sentenced under this law were serving 25 years to life for nonviolent and petty crimes (Peak, 2012). Since the number of the prison population increased, it cost tax payer 8.1 billion in one decade (Peak, 2012). Also, shortly thereafter, officials reported that there was a disproportionate impact on the mentally ill, minorities and the poor (Dickey & Hollenhorst, …show more content…

With such a high detriment to society and nonviolent offenders, 16 states have modified the law by removing mandatory sentences and replacing them with sentencing ranges (Peak, 2012). Eleven states changed the law to provide judicial discretion, and seven put a limit on the circumstances in which an offender is sentenced to life without parole (Peak, 2012). According to Walsh (2007), some states have decided to reform their laws by exempting drug offenders from mandatory sentencing provision and instead provide treatment programs. Although, in the case of California, the three strike law remained in effect for 18 years before it was finally amended in 2012(pp. 152-154). The amended law requires the new felony to be a serious or violent felony (instead of any felony)with two or more prior strikes, and any offenders charge under the previous law can now petition the court for a reduction in their sentencing term (Couzens & Bigelow,

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