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State must reform 'Three Strikes' law
By Steve Cooley
In 1994, California voters overwhelming approved Proposition 184, the "Three Strikes,"' which mandated a sen­tence of 25 years to life imprisonment for anyone convicted of any felony if that per­son had been previously convicted of two or more serious or violent felonies. The law also doubled the penalty for any­one convicted of a felonywho had been pre­viously convicted of one serious or violent felony,a second-strike Thousands of recidivists have been Impris­oned under, the second­and third-strike statuto­ryschemes. Some ob­servers credit the declin­ing crime rates in most counties to this recidi­vist sentencing law.
At first, many prose­cutors and judges felt "'Three Strikes" sentences were mandatory in all qualifying cases, no matter what the nature of the triggering' felony. In California, many crimes are pun­ishable as felonies but are not labeled as serious or violent by the Penal Code. A second shoplifting offense, writing a bad check for more than $200 and possess­ing a small amount of illegal drugs for per-' sonal use are all felonies that could trigger the 25-years-to-life sentence.
Justices retained discretion
In 1996, the state Supreme Court ruled that judges retained discretion under the law to disregard a prior strike in the, inter­est of justice and. impose a more appropri­ate sentence on the present offense. As a result, policies and practices changed in some counties. Thus, Califor­riia has a system that can vary widely and result in inequality depending on the coun­ty in which the crime is committed and which court sentences the offender.
Such inequality causes the public to question whether the criminal justice system is actually dispensing evenhanded justice. As a candidate for Los Angeles County district attorney in 1999,.1 pledged to issue' a new "Three Strikes" policy for the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Immediately after being sworn in, I made', good on that pledge.
The policy of the L.A. District Attorney's Office requires' that if a potential third strike is not a serious or violent felony, it will not be treated as a third-strike case ex­cept in unusual circumstances. It is gener­ally sentenced as a second-strike case.
This policy avoids injustice and abuse in the form of disproportionately harsh sen­tences of 25 years to life for relatively minor crimes. Since December 2000, prosecutors have implemented this policy and virtually eliminated 25-years-to-life sentences for petty thieves and petty drug offenders. This new policy has worked well and has been well received bylaw enforcement; the courts and the community at large.
In 2004, voters' were asked to approve a ballot measure that virtually all law en-' forcement officials believed would have un­dercut .the "Three Strikes" law. It would have resulted in the wholesale release of thousands of dangerous criminals.
Pre-election opinion polls indicated broad public support for Proposition 66. Only a last-minute aggressive public aware­ness campaign led -by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other former Califor- nia governors defeated the proposition by a close vote of 53% to 47%. Gov. Schwarzeneg­ger has said that he would be interested in fixing problems with the current "Three Strikes" law.
Those who supported Proposition 66 have vowed to continue their efforts to mod­ify or repeal the "Three Strikes" law. There is little doubt that the public wants reason­able and just reform of the law. The Three Strikes Reform Act of 2006 is the joint product of prosecutors, private at­torneys and other interested parties work­in¢ together to ensure -a realistic approach to prevent unjust sentencting without com-promising the ability to remove serious `:and dangerous recidivist criminals from our communities. It has already received support from law enforcement. It has also been favorably re-viewed by a number of newspapers includ- ing The Sacramento Bee, the Las Angeles Times, the San Francisco Chronicle, the San Diego Union Tribune, the San Gabriel Valley Tribune and the Orange County Reg-ister. State Sen. Gloria Romero has agreed to introduce legislation to place the initia­tive on the ballot.
The proposed act keeps the present two­and "Three Strikes" penalties; keeps the definitions of "serious" and "violent" f W& nies; ' and provides that current -strikes must be either serious or violent felonies or from specific crime categories, such as certain sex offenses, large quantity drug of­fenses, crimes ;where the defendant uses a firearm, was armed or intended to cause great bodily injury to another person.
Apply for resentencing
Current third-strike.. prisoners whose triggering felony would not qualify for a 26-years-to-life sentence. would be eligible to apply for resentencing at the court's dis­cretion as a second-strike offender.
The criminal. justice system needs to re­tain the beneficial provisions of the "Three Strikes" law. However, the state should not allow the misallocation of limited penal re­sources by having life prison sentences for those who do not pose a serious criminal threat to society.
Punishment should fit the crime: Califor­nia ca h assure public safety and achieve the interests-of justice in all counties and courts with The Three Strikes Reform Act of 2006.
 
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