California's Three Strikes Law

There are over nine thousand people serving 25 years to life in prison under California’s Three-Strikes law, many convicted of petty crimes.

Who would think that a law enacted to rid society of violent criminals, is instead spending billions of dollars housing non-violent offenders for life.

"Certainly not you if you are a California tax-payer", says Francis Courser advocate and San Diego chairperson for Families to Amend Three Strikes.

Families to Amend Three Strikes (FACTS) is an organization made up of strikers, family members, community leaders, activists, attorneys, students, professors and clergy whose purpose is strictly to abolish or amend California’s Three Strikes law to include violent offenses only.

“In 1994 three-strikes law was enacted to put away murderers, rapists and child molesters for life, not drug addicts, or people convicted for property crimes,” said Courser.

Advocates against three-strikes argue that the only way to repair the current prison crisis is to amend an unjust and bias law, which is obscure to most of the people who apply it.

“Even police officers don’t know how it is applied! After interviewing hundreds of police officers during my research process, most argue three-strikes only applies to violent crimes, which is not the case”.

Former Sacramento resident Lisa Connelly, a 40-year old mother was sent to life in prison after being arrested with less than 0.9 grams of methamphetmine, and a stolen autograph book, in 1999.

Lisa had previously been arrested in 1989 for breaking in to three homes and served time for burglary, never committing a violent crime, Lisa's family was shocked when their daughter was given a life sentence by a judge who counted her 1989, conviction as a strike.

"That is another thing that is so wrong about this law, applying strikes from previous offenses even if they occured prior to the enactment of three-strikes. There are cases where people are serving life terms after judges counted prior offenses from 30-or-40 years back" said Courser.

In 2004, Proposition 66, which would have amended the law, requiring a second or third strike to be a violent crime passed with 80 percent voter approval. However it was defeated, by law enforcement groups who appealed to a California court.

Tom Connelly, Lisa's father a Sacramento resident believes there is a much larger reason which such law is in effect saying,
“The prison system in California is a big business. Anytime you have the budget of billion with a B dollars it is big business, pure and simple. But that 9 billion is your money, and my money”.

Currently the cost to run California’s prison system has risen to $9.8 billion for 2008 and expected to rise to $10.4 billion by 2009, according to the Caliornia Legislative Analyst Office (LAO).

According to a Policy Brief from the Justice Policy Institute nearly two-thirds of those sentenced under California’s Three Strikes law were convicted of non-violent offenses.

Proponents of three-strikes say this law is necessary to keep violent criminals off the streets.

Recently, Governor Schwarzenegger signed Assembly Bill 900, granting the State an additional $7.7 billion in funding for prison reform following threats by the federal government to limit California’s prison population

Mike Reynolds, created the ballot initiative, titled “Three-Strikes and You’re Out” in 1992 after his daughter Kimberly Reynolds, was killed by two repeat felons with long records of arrests.

In 1993, the iniative gained momentum after Polly Klaas, a 12-year-old girl was kidnapped and murdered by repeat violent offender Richard Allen Davis.

Police officers and other advocates against crime lobbied the legislature to the pass this bill, which would strike out repeat violent offenders for life. Californians and law makers alike found the need to enact three-strikes to control what many believed was a rising crime rate.

“We wanted it to reduce crime, and anybody that looks at the statistical data California dropped in virtually every category of crime at the greatest rates that the states ever seen,” said Mike Reynolds.

The rate of third-strikers that have gone to prison in the last five years is about 250, according to Reynolds.

In the United States, there are a total of 23 states that have enacted the three-strikes law, of the 23 California applies it at the highest rate, according to statistics published by the Justice Policy Institute.

“Everybody on the other side of the fence depends on the enforcement of this law. Their jobs depend on the apprehending, convicting, and incarceration of people," said Tom Connelly.

Advocates to amend the three-strikes law disagree with Reynolds, claiming the law is not living up to what it set out to do in the first in place, lock up murders and rapist.

"There is not one person serving life in prison for first degree murder, unlike what Reynolds and proponents of this law want you to believe. It's a flat out lie!" said Courser.

Currently there is 45 people serving life in prison for manslaughter, compared to the 684 serving life sentences for drug possession, according to statistics by the Justice Policy Institiute.

Francis Courser and his group of supporters drafted an initiative to reform the three strikes law, which will be on the ballot in the 2008 election.

“We will continue to fight to reform three-strikes, in this incarceration nation,” said Courser.