Criminal Justice Research Paper: The Three Strikes Law

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Criminal Justice Research Paper -Three Strikes Law The American public is terrified about crime, and with good reason. Americas crime rate is unacceptably high, and many Americans feel like prisoners in their own homes, afraid to venture out for fear of becoming another statistic. Over the past twenty years, state and federal crime control policies have been based on the belief that harsh sentencing laws will prevent people from committing crimes. But today, with more than two million people behind bars, and state budgets down by the huge costs of prison construction, we are no safer than before. New approaches to the problem of crime are needed, but instead, our political leaders keep serving up the same old strategies. The Three Strikes…show more content…
“Shane Reams mother was practicing "tough love" when she encouraged neighbors to press charges. Shane had been stealing from the neighbors' garages. Those burglary convictions ended up serving as the basis for a three-strike sentence that sent her son away for 25 years to life. His third strike: aiding and abetting a $20 drug sale to an undercover officer” (SfGate). “Ronnie Villa, a grandfather of four, is doing 25 to life. His crime was stealing five bottles of Head and Shoulders shampoo. His prior strikes occurred 12 years earlier” (Stanford). “William Anderson was convicted of a robbery 27 years ago. He is serving 25 to life for possession of a forged drivers license” (Stanford). All three of the above cases had sent three people to jail for a long time for misdemeanor type crimes. “I am a 45 year old husband and father of two sons, one daughter and a grandfather to one granddaughter. I have no history of violence, yet I am serving a 25 year to LIFE sentence for the Vehicle Code Violation of “Felony Evading” which I did not commit and which did not result in any injury or property damage. I was not charged until eighteen months after the purported violation. It was dismissed in the twenty-first month only to be re-filed! My priors were over eleven years old. I am serving this draconian sentence for a non-violent, non-serious, Vehicle Code violation which has left my wife, sons, and daughter without a father to be with them to provide the love and nurturing they need. This was surely not the intent of the Three Strikes Law” (Facts). The first major statewide organization to try and stop the Three Strikes Law is an organization known as “F.A.C.T.S.” This stands for families to amend California’s three strikes. “Our major purpose is to amend the 3-Strikes law in California so it is only applicable to violent felonies” (FACTS). “Nearly 75% of 2nd and 50% of 3rd strikes within California are

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