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The problem with three strikes legislation
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Questions about the three strikes law
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The Initiative I have chosen to talk about is the Three Strikes Law Repeat Felony Offenders Penalties, Proposition 36. This proposition was introduced on the November 6, 2012 ballot as an initiated state stature, where it was approved with a 69.30% standing in the state of CA. This proposition was set up to modify the elements in California’s “Three Strikes” Law, which was approved by the state’s voters in 1994 through proposition 184. There are 24 other states that have some form of the Three Strike type law in effect as of today. Back in 2004, proposition 66 was a reform for the Three Strike law, just like proposition 36 was set up and was put on the ballot for the voter, where voters rejected proposition 66.
Proposition 36 would shorten the sentences for any third strike offenders if the crime is not serious or violent. Depending on the type of your third strike was, depended on the length of your sentence. A serious or violent crime third offender would still receive life in prison with the possibility of parole after 25 years. (cit kcet). If the third offence was drug, sex, or gun related crime, they would also receive life in prison with possibility of parole after 25 years. If the third offence is a non- serious or non- violent crime then the persons will receive twice the normal sentence. In addition, a person with a single conviction involving rape, murder, child molestation, and other heinous crime will have the harder of sentences even if the third strike is minor. This proposition would also allow third “strikers” that are already facing life in prison to apply for a reduced sentence using the new proposition.
From an economic stand point if this passed, it would save the state money but would increase co...
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...enalties - California State Government." Proposition 36: Three Strikes Law. Repeat Felony Offenders. Penalties - California State Government. Http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/state/, 3 Nov. 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
"THREE STRIKES LAW. REPEAT FELONY OFFENDERS. PENALTIES. INITIATIVE STATUTE." 36-arg-rebuttals.pdf. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
Toller, Thomas P. "CDAAOppositionPaper." Ed. Carl V. Adams and Scott W. Thorpe. CDAA, n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
York, Anthony. "Plan to Change Three-strikes Law Moves toward November Ballot." - Latimes.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Apr. 2014. .
...ve their advantage and disadvantage in regards their tax system; however, we can see that the state of Texas needs to find a better system to growth its tax revenue, they need to move to a progressive system, where there is a charge for income tax, but by putting a margin were only certain brackets pay the tax, and live exempt the people who makes $30,000.00 or less. This will improve the amount of income for the state, to help suicide certain causes, such as The Education system, Medicaid, and also help the Department of Transportation to pay old debts due to the construction and maintenance of new roads. This will help to stop the plan of considering bringing international companies to build new roads with the commitment of paying toll during the next fifty years, which is only going to benefit the private company, but not any changes in the revenue of the state.
Proposition 30 (prop 30 or SB11) is supported by the schools and local public safety protection Act of 2012. Prop 30 is a tax initiative led by California governor Jerry Brown. Prop 30 is aimed at reducing forecasted budget cuts to public schools also higher education, by increasing the California sales tax from 7.25% to 7.50%for the next four years. It also will create three new tax brackets for taxable incomes. Incomes exceeding $250,000, $300,000 and $500,000 will pay more in taxes for the next seven years. With the extra money being saved will go towards adding more classes for higher education students. Also to help reduce California’s state budget, prop 30 should raise $6 billion annually form raised taxes.
Kimber Reynolds was eighteen at the time and came home to Fresno to be a bridesmaid. She was leaving a restaurant when two men on motorcycles attempted to snatch her purse (Laird, 2013). She resisted and one of the men shot her resulting in her death twenty six hours later. Her family discovered that both men had prior offenses mostly for drugs and petty theft. Kimber’s dad, Mike Reynolds, drafted a “three strikes and you’re out” law for punishing repeat offenders. After advertising it as a way to keep violent repeat offenders off the street, California passed the law two years later (Laird, 2013). The law doubled prison time for a second felony if the offender had a prior serious or violent felony. If an offender had two prior serious or violent felonies, it would mean 25 years to life for “third strike” even though the third felony did not have to be serious or violent. As a result, people in California were sentenced to life in prison for petty theft and drug possession (Laird,
Proposition 36 The Real Truth As you might already be aware, there is a ballot initiative in this upcoming November’s election about drugs, and drug treatment. This measure is called Proposition 36. If this measure were to pass, state law would be changed, so that certain non-violent adult offenders who use or possess illegal drugs would receive drug treatment and supervision in the community, not prison. Right now, California is ranked number one in the nation for its rate of imprisonment for drug offenders. If Proposition 36 passes, California could become number one for its treatment of drug offenders.
The driving force behind "three-strikes" legislation in Washington, were politicians wanting to "get tough on crime". The reasoning behind the law was to reduce recidivism and get violent offenders off the street. I think that the legislation was merely a response to public outcry rather than a well thought out strategy to actually reduce crime. Advocates say that after "three-strikes" laws were adopted across the country there was a drastic reduction in crime in general. They also argue that once a person has committed a his second "strike" and knows that he faces a life sentence if convicted again will think twice before committing another crime. These arguments are fallacies. Finally what supporters fail to point out is that these three-strike laws target minorities over whites in a severely disproportionate amount.
The deterrent effect of three strikes law. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 68, 6-11. Tischler, E. (1999, Feburary). Three strikes striking out?
The majority of prisoners incarcerated in America are non-violent offenders. This is due mainly to mandatory minimum sentencing laws, which is a method of prosecution that gives offenders a set amount of prison time for a crime they commit if it falls under one of these laws, regardless of their individual case analysis. These laws began in the 1980s, when the use of illegal drugs was hitting an all time high (Conyers 379). The United States began enacting legislature that called for minimum sentencing in an effort to combat this “war on drugs.” Many of these laws give long sentences to first time offenders (Conyers). The “three strikes” law states that people convicted of drug crimes on three separate occasions can face life in prison. These laws were passed for political gain, as the American public was swept into the belief that the laws would do nothing other than help end the rampant drug crimes in the country. The laws are still in effect today, and have not succeeded to discourage people from using drugs. Almost fifty percent...
This legalization allowed anyone to smoke and possess up to an ounce of marijuana as long as you are over the age of 21. Colorado is not just making a difference for the people that need it medically but even a difference for the people that do not need it at all. Since they legalized the drug in Colorado, petty arrests have decreased from almost 6,000 yearly to 120 yearly. As an added bonus, Colorado made a profit of almost seventy million dollars in marijuana tax revenue . This money went towards improving schools and the community. The alcohol revenue earned grew and just under forty two million in the same year. 19.6 million will go to the education system for Colorado in comparison to the previous year when there was only 13.9 million going towards the education (Ryan). Not only did it create revenue for the community and school systems, it also created many open jobs for people of the area. It also helps provide information about medical marijuana and where it comes from .
The California proposition 57 is one of the most controversial measures in this presidential election. Prop. 57 would expand opportunities on parole for nonviolent offenders and suggests that they are the judges, not prosecutors, who decide when an adolescent older than 14 years of age should be tried as an adult. If proposition 57 were to pass, the Governor said that more than 7,000 criminals could qualify, but only 10% would come out of prison early. Annually we spend about $36,000 per person to keep them in jail and we are spending about 9,000 per year for each student to keep them in school, then there is a problem, if we invest more in schools and less prisons then chances are that crime is decreasing.
Mass incarceration has caused the prison’s populations to increase dramatically. The reason for this increase in population is because of the sentencing policies that put a lot of men and women in prison for an unjust amount of time. The prison population has be caused by periods of high crime rates, by the medias assembly line approach to the production of news stories that bend the truth of the crimes, and by political figures preying on citizens fear. For example, this fear can be seen in “Richard Nixon’s famous campaign call for “law and order” spoke to those fears, hostilities, and racist underpinnings” (Mauer pg. 52). This causes law enforcement to focus on crimes that involve violent crimes/offenders. Such as, gang members, drive by shootings, drug dealers, and serial killers. Instead of our law agencies focusing their attention on the fundamental causes of crime. Such as, why these crimes are committed, the family, and preventive services. These agencies choose to fight crime by establishing a “War On Drugs” and with “Get Tough” sentencing policies. These policies include “three strikes laws, mandatory minimum sentences, and juvenile waives laws which allows kids to be trialed as adults.
To begin, Mandatory minimum sentences result in prison overcrowding, and based on several studies, it does not alleviate crime, for example crimes such as shoplifting or solicitation. These sentencing guidelines do not allow a judge to take into consideration the first time offender, differentiate the deviance level of the offender, and it does not allow for the judge to alter a punishment or judgment to each individual case. When mandatory sentencing came into effect, the drug lords they were trying to stop are not the ones being affected by the sentences. It is the nonviolent, low-level drug users who are overcrowding the prisons as a result of these sentences. Both the U.S. Sentencing Commission and the Department of Justice have determined that mandatory sentencing is not an effective way to deter crime. Studies show that mandatory minimums have gone downhill due to racial a...
The Judiciary Branch of the United States government is responsible for interpreting the law. Those involved with this branch determine the meaning of the laws and decide what to do with those who break them. Because of a drug movement that took place through the 1980s, the courts have severely punished those who break laws associated to drugs; Congress is now trying to step in to change the way the Judiciary Branch is forced to punish such criminals. Congress has been busy the past couple of years evaluating the proper sentencing of those convicted of drug crimes. Many men and women of Congress are joining forces in an attempt to come up with a solution to propose as an amendment. Our elected leaders believe the need for the reform of drug crimes is due because of the number of cases and number of years those convicted are spending in prisons. Because of the drug wars that took place in the United States, the minimum sentence has been set so high today. Drug reform is needed in the United States, and those convicted of drug crimes with improper sentences need to have their sentence reduced. 1
Nieto, M. (1996). Community corrections punishments: An alternative to incarceration for non-violent offenders. Retrieved March 13, 2011, from http://www.library.ca.gov/crb/96/08/
Juvenile crime in the United States is ballooning out of control along with adult crimes, and politicians and law enforcement officials don’t seem to be able to do anything about it. Despite tougher sentencing laws, longer probation terms, and all other efforts of lawmakers, the crime and recidivism rates in our country can’t be reduced. The failure of these recent measures along with new research and studies by county juvenile delinquency programs point to the only real cure to the U.S.’s crime problem: prevention programs. The rising crime rates in the United States are of much worry to most of the U.S.’s citizens, and seems to be gaining a sense of urgency. Crime ranks highest in nationwide polls as Americans’ biggest concern (Daltry 22). For good reason- twice as many people have been victims of crimes in the 1990s as in the 1970s (Betts 36). Four times as many people under the age of eighteen were arrested for homicide with a handgun in 1993 than in 1983 (Schiraldi 11A). These problems don’t have a quick fix solution, or even an answer that everyone can agree on. A study by the Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy has found no deterrent effects of the “Three Strikes and You’re Out” law recently put into effect by politicians (Feinsilber 1A). It has been agreed however that there is not much hope of rehabilitating criminals once started on a life of crime. Criminologist David Kuzmeski sums up this feeling by saying, “If society wants to protect itself from violent criminals, the best way it can do it is lock them up until they are over thirty years of age.... I am not aware of any treatment that has been particularly successful.” The problem with his plan is that our country simply doesn’t have the jail space, or money to ...
Today, a vicious cycle of poverty, criminality, and incarceration traps too many Americans and weakens too many communities. And many aspects of our criminal justice system may actually exacerbate these problems, rather than alleviate them.