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Joe Brotherton
Washington 3 Strikes Law (Persistent Offenders Law) (50
minutes)
Original
PowerPoint with slides discussing 3 Strikes Law; 5 Opinion Poll
placards
GOALS: Learning about the “3 Strikes Law”, understanding the initiative process
and reviewing the purpose of the criminal justice system:
Introduce students to the initiative process in Washington State in the context of
the “3 Strikes Law”.
Understand how an “idea’ becomes an initiative on a ballot and eventually a law.
Understand how to read the statute in the context of the “3 Strikes Law”.
Understand the difficulties that can arise when citizens write law especially
criminal law.
OBJECTIVES:
Knowledge: As a result of this class, students will be better able to:
a. Understand the reasoning behind and the societal impact of the “3 Strikes
Law”.
b. Develop arguments for why the original “3 Strikes Law” either did or did not
accomplish the goals of the voters.
c. Understand the basics of how “3 Strikes” interacts with the 8th Amendment.
Skills: As a result of this class, students will be better able to:
a. Debate whether or not the “3 Strikes Law” accomplished its stated objectives
and whether or not it is good policy.
b. Analyze how the implementation of the law was successful.
c. Debate whether or not the initiative process is appropriately geared toward
criminal law.
d. Paraphrase legal aspects of the 8th Amendment in the context of the
mandatory sentencing rules set out in the “3 Strikes Law”.
Attitude: As a result of this class, students will be better able to feel:
a. Empowered that they know how the reasoning behind the “3 Strikes Law” and
the impact the implementation has had on our society.
b. Confident that they know how an “idea” becomes a law – interaction between
a ballot measure and the legislature’s role.
c. Confident that they can articulate their position on criminal law topics.
CLASSROOM METHODS:
Present a brief PowerPoint on the “3 Strikes Law”.
a. Persistent Offenders – RCW 9.94A.570 (Slide #1)
i. Show the class the text of the three strikes law. Either have one
student read the whole statute or break it into sections and have
multiple students read the statute aloud.
ii. Ask for a volunteer to explain what they think the statute means.
iii. Through discussion make sure to explain the basic premise of the law.
If a person is convicted of three of the listed crimes (or one type of
crime 3 times), then they receive a mandatory sentence of life in prison
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without parole or any other review for release (with the exception of
clemency).
b. History of the Statute (Slide #2)
i. Explain the context and political climate in 1993.
1. Crime was at a 60 year high.
2. People were fed up with the high crime levels and felt the same
criminals were reoffending.
3. The crack “epidemic” was still in full swing and drug related
crimes were continuing to increase.
4. There was a perception that judges were giving too lenient of
sentences.
5. The people passed an initiative to deal with the problem due to
the perceived inability of the legislature to adequately deal with
the problem.
ii. Note: Washington was the first state to enact a “3 strike law”.
c. What is an Initiative? (Slide 3)
i. Explain the current process for creating initiatives.
ii. Explain that the law is written by a citizen or citizen group.
iii. Explain what happens once an initiative has the appropriate number of
signatures.
1. The legislature can either approve the initiative as written.
2. Amend the proposed law and pass that and let the voters
choose between the original measure and the amended law.
3. Do nothing and let the people vote on the initiative as written.
d. What is a strike? (Slide 4)
i. The lowest crimes considered a strike are 2nd degree assault and 2nd
degree robbery.
1. RCW 9A.56.190 - Robbery
2. A person commits robbery when he or she unlawfully takes
personal property from the person of another or in his or her
presence against his or her will by the use or threatened use of
immediate force, violence, or fear of injury to that person or his
or her property or the person or property of anyone. Such force
or fear must be used to obtain or retain possession of the
property, or to prevent or overcome resistance to the taking; in
either of which cases the degree of force is immaterial. Such
taking constitutes robbery whenever it appears that, although
the taking was fully completed without the knowledge of the
person from whom taken, such knowledge was prevented by
the use of force or fear.
3. 2nd degree robbery can be a non-violent crime and no weapon
is necessary.
ii. Strikes obtained prior to 1993 are counted against an offender.
However, if they had 3 strikes prior to 1993, then they would only be
given a life sentence without parole if they committed another crime
that constituted a strike.
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B.
iii. In order for the “strike” to count the crime must be committed in
Washington State.
iv. In 1996 the law was amended to create a two strikes rule for violent
sexual crimes.
v. In 2008 – the law was amended to count violent sexual offenses
committed in other states.
e. Current State of Three Strikes (Slide 6)
i. Similar laws have been enacted in 29 states
1. A similar law is one with a mandatory sentence of 25 or more
years.
ii. Explain the statistics and disparities in the implementation of the law.
1. As of March 2007, 292 individuals had been sentenced to life
imprisonment under the three strikes provisions.
2. Of these 40.1% were black and 57.3% were white.
3. The most common third offense was Robbery 2 (23.3% of
cases), followed by Robbery 1 (15.8%), and Assault 2 (8.2%)
4. Statistics are from the Washington’s Sentencing Guidelines
Commission report on the Three Strikes Law published in
2008.
f. Questions: It is a good idea to ask the students if they have any questions
regarding the law before the opinion poll activity. If their questions relate too
closely to the questions in the activity below tell the student you will answer
their question during the activity.
Opinion Poll Activity
a. Go to the instruction slide on the PowerPoint. (Slide 7)
i. Place the placards out in different areas of the room.
ii. Explain the instructions and ask if anyone has any questions before
beginning.
b. Question 1 (Slide 8)
i. Should someone convicted of 3 second degree robbery or assaults be
eligible to have their sentence reviewed?
ii. Follow up 1:
1. Does it matter if 2 of the strikes were obtained prior to 1993?
iii. Follow up 2:
1. Does it matter if all crimes were non-violent?
iv. Discussion Questions:
1. Could there be other mitigating circumstances that could or
should be considered during sentencing?
c. Current State of the Law (Slide 9)
i. There is no obligation to review cases or sentences.
ii. There is a clemency board available for all prisoners. The clemency
board hears petitions by prisoners asking for clemency from the
Governor.
iii. The Governor is under no obligation to grant clemency even if the
board recommends clemency.
d. Question 2 (Slide 9)
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C.
e. 3 Strikes and the 8th Amendment (Slide 10)
i. The US Supreme Court has not reviewed a Washington case but ruled
on California’s version of the three strikes law and found that the
sentences were not SO disproportional to the offense that it violated
the 8th amendment.
f. Question 3 (Slide 11)
i. The three strikes law has made us safer and is an effective tool to
combat crime.
ii. Follow up question 1:
1. Is it worth the cost?
2. Discuss financial costs of long term incarceration
3. Discuss the social costs. Fathers in prison for life, racial
disparities, and other socials costs.
iii. Follow up question 2:
1. Is there a better alternative?
2. Discuss whether or not the sentence of life in prison needs to
be mandatory.
g. What is being done now? (Slide 12)
i. Prosecutors are using three strikes as leverage in plea bargains and
pleading crimes that would have been 3 strike offenses down to lessen
offenses that do not carry a life sentence.
1. This has resulted in far fewer three strike convictions.
ii. Clemency Board – only review mechanism left to those convicted but
is still subject to the discretion of the Governor.
iii. Pardon by the Governor – discuss the problems with this system.
1. The Governor has little to gain from releasing a prisoner
convicted under three strikes but has much to lose politically
especially if the person reoffends.
h. Current Reform Efforts (Slide 13)
i. Show the youtube video.
ii. The bill described in the video did not pass but is still supported by
Kline and some other state representatives.
i. Questions (Slide 14)
i. Allow the students to ask any remaining questions about the law or the
discussion.
Evaluation
a. Evaluate students’ participation in class discussions, including
willingness to defend their position and their ability to defend or change
their position when follow up questions or new facts are presented.
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Strongly Agree
5
Somewhat
Agree
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Undecided
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Somewhat
Disagree
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Strongly
Disagree
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