For Better Understanding of the effects of the Three Strikes Law...

Posted: Thursday, August 2, 2012 by CSULB Nursing Student Editors in
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In order to better understand the effects of the Three Strikes Law, few charts are uploaded with important terms & graphs in criminal sentencing.


Few important terms to keep in mind:
1. Felony: Most serious type of crime and offenders who commit felonies may be sentenced to state prison
2. Violent Offense: State law (Penal Code 667.5) defines some felonies as "violent" E.g. murder, robbery, rape, and other sex offenses

3. Serious Offense: State law (Penal Code 1192.7) defines some felonies as "serious" that also includes the same offenses as violent felonies, but also include other offenses such as burglary of a residence and assault with intent to commit robbery



 

Three Strikes Prior Law
V.S.
Current Law

An example scenario with an offense of burglary of residence or robbery would result in:

1. 2 years to serve in prison under both the prior and current law
    FOR any felony with NO PRIOR FELONY

2. 4.5 years to serve in prison under prior law; 10.4 years to serve in priosn under current law
   FOR any felony with ONE PRIOR SERIOUS/VIOLENT FELONY

3. 2 years to serve in prison under prior law; 25 years to life under current law
   FOR Nonviolent/nonserious felony with TWO PRIOR SERIOUS/VIOLENT FELONIES

4. 7 years to serve in prison under prior law; 25 years to life under current law
   FOR Serious/Violent felony with TWO PRIOR SERIOUS/VIOLENT FELONIES


The impacts of the Three Strikes Law on the Criminal Justice System:

The growth of the second & third striker inmate population from 1994 thorugh 2004 noted.  Keep in mind that roughly 1/3 strikers convicted for crimes against persons (approximately 37%), such as robbery & assault.  The rest of 63% were not a serious/violent crime against persons.  The 30% of total offense was under Property Crimes category such as Burglary or petty theft,  23% for Drug Crimes including the possessions & sales, and other 10% was for other crimes such as possessions of weapons.

In addition, the data collected as of December 2004 shows that less than half of strikers are incarcerated for serious/violent commitment offenses.  Total of 56% of second and third strikers commited nonserious/nonviolent crimes. 

Lastly, few research data shows decreased crime rates of both property & violent crimes after the implementation of Three Strikes Law, however, such data needs more research in order to analyze the  full effects of the Three Strikes Law before assuming or interpreting in a biased way.



All the information + charts + graphs are retrieved from the link below:
Three Strikes - The Impact After More Than a Decade (2005)



3 comments:

  1. Anonymous says:
    August 7, 2012 at 10:18 PM

    Thanks CSULB Nursing Students for the clarification of Prop 36. I am a student from CSUF needing to write a paper on this topic for my criminal justice course and your information/articles have helped a lot. I do have a question however, I was googling this Prop and came up with a lot of info about Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000. That is something different correct?

  1. Anonymous says:
    August 8, 2012 at 10:43 AM

    Thanks for the information! This is great, I definitely feel much more informed on this prop!

  1. SEAJIN -- CSULB EDITOR says:
    August 8, 2012 at 11:26 AM

    Hello, thank you for commenting on this post! In regards to your question about the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000, you may be getting this result because the proposition 36 as of 2000 election pertains to the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act. It may seem similar to the Proposition 36 on 2012 election -- Three Strikes Law; but it is a different initiation. I'll attach the link below to provide more information about the Substance Abuse and Crime Prevention Act of 2000.
    http://www.adp.cahwnet.gov/sacpa/prop36.shtml
    I hope this will clear up your question! I also hope that the information we provided will be helpful for your paper!