Lisa Falaniko
English 2010
Brandon Alva
1
Three Strikes You’re Out
The reason this particular subject has interest to me is that I have personally had to relate with
someone who has and still is caught up in this mad world of three strikes you’re out. My older
brother who is currently servicing 20 years of a 25 year sentences for drug sales. Under Three
Strikes he was consider a repeat offender. At his time of arrest he had in his possession less than
one ounce of Marijuana. Under Oklahoma City law any amount of any type of a drug at that
particular time was consider a felony. Since it was more than he could smoke at any one time, he
received two charges, even though it was for personal use. The first charge was a felony for
possession, and second charge was for possession for sales of am controlled narcotic drug. Year
later he was pull over and was found to have in his possession Marijuana once more. Under
Oklahoma City eyes he was considered a repeat offender and sentences to 18 years to life. Living
through it all has been hard. The Law is just for certain types of felonies and crime that stand out
in the public eye. The behind the scenes is what no one looks at, most people think that if a
person goes to prison then he truly deserves what he has coming to him. When criminals commit
a crime in question the penalty needs to fit the punishment. Most petty crimes are repeated by
small time offender and usually when someone commit a large crime then the penalty is just. In
criminal law, illegal drugs and narcotics are often referred to as “controlled substances. Whether
it is marijuana, heroin, or any other regulated substances. Here is a prime example of the law not
in a person favor. The case of Sheila Devereux, 47 has asked Tulsa County District Attorney Tim
Harris to review her case, which involved a 2005 conviction for drug trafficking, she told The
Tulsa World. Devereux refused a plea agreement and was convicted on one count of drug
trafficking Oct 24, 2005, Tulsa County District Court records show. A jury sentenced Devereux
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English 2010
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to life without parole under the Uniform Controlled Dangerous Substance Act, according to her
recently denied appeal. With two previous convictions for drugs possession, Devereux qualified
for life sentence under the Three Strikes law in Oklahoma.
In most low poverty areas drug possession is common, and usually makes up a large portion of
the crimes charged in any area. Most often the offender carrying or possessing drugs the charge
is a minor offense. Every state has it law that differ in regards to drug possession. California drug
laws are classified as infractions, misdemeanors, or felonies. Infractions are the least serious and
do not include jail time; misdemeanors can result in up to a year in jail. In California all CDS
(Controlled Dangerous Drugs) possession crimes are felony. Unfortunately my brother was not
living in California, he was residing In Oklahoma City where the laws for small drug possession
is a severe criminal offense. Under Oklahoma law, a first offense of possessing even a small
amount of marijuana is misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in prison and $1000 fine, a
penalty roughly as serious as for driving under the influence of alcohol. A second possession
conviction within 10 years is a felony and punishable by a maximum 10 year prison sentence and
$5000 fine. Individuals who have been found to have in their possession anything over then
personal such as 1 joint are consider to be selling and can face a life term sentence. At the end of
the day, possession is over criminalized in Oklahoma City.
The other purpose of my paper is to analyze Proposition 184 Three Strikes Law in order to
examine the effectiveness of the law in reducing crimes and the prevalence of repeated
offenders, and secondly has the cost to house these repeat offender been worth it. And according
to statistic have we tried to rehabilitate these individuals that have committed crimes while under
the influence of drugs, or have we just release them back in to society to reuse drugs and become
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habitual offender again, Has our government supplied the knowledge to these individual and
given them the resources that they can get the help while they are incarcerated or does our
government want them to come out and commit crimes again so that the Government can prove
to the American people that there is a need to build another prison in your backyards.
In 1994, the state of California voted to pass a proposition 184, also known as The Three Strikes
Law. The law was developed and originally intended to reduce violent crime by imposing
maximum sentencing for repeated offenders. The whole theory behind the law was that harsher
punishment would serve as a deterrent to potential offenders or repeated offenders. Essentially
the model is that the punishment would fit the crime and those offenders would pay for their
actions through longer sentencing. However, the law has imprisoned thousands at a rapid and
consistent pace along with other implications and consequences.
The repeat offender law is nothing new, each judge often consider whether a first time offender
had prior offenses when it comes to sentencing. In 1993 the initiative 593 was the first true
“Three Strikes Law. Washington state voter approved of this law. California voters passed
Proposition 184 in 1994 and other states quickly followed suit. California was the first state to
adopt the life imprisonment.
Currently there are 28 states practicing this law for repeat offender. So I ask again has three
strikes worked, financially, or is this just another scheme to separate the classes. According to
statistic Three Strikes and You’re Out has proven to be the most single successful crime fighting
law that California has had. During the years since the law has been in effect, crime has
plummeted and the cost estimates that the new law has worked. There are two for sure ways to
stop criminals’ incarceration and deterrence.
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English 2010
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More than 1 million crimes have been prevented and $21.7 billion in related costs have been
saved. Statistics show 5,695 fewer murders, 6,923 fewer rapes, 172,045 fewer robberies, 111,223
fewer aggravated assaults, and 454,654 fewer burglaries. California currently runs 28 prisons,
they must build 20 more for three strikes offenders. Even after this construction, the state 60
prisons still will be crowded to 125 percent of capacity. The cost to house these prisoner will be
$21,000 per year per inmate, just do the math. The Additional cost of prisons to operate is
extensive, it has ran into $6 billion per year. This is amount needed to send two students to the
University of California for two semester. By the year 2027, when the first wave of three strikes
convicts finishes terms averaging 30 years, California will have spent an estimated $21.4 billion
building prisons. The interest payment burden will be on the next two generations of taxpayers.
The annual cost of operating prisons will increase by $5.7 billion in 2027, the first year the full
financial effect of three strikes will be felt. California now spends $2.8 billion a year to operate
the world’s second largest prison system, eclipsed only by that of China, according to the Little
Hoover Commission, a state government watchdog agency.
There are many advantages to the law such as putting repeat offender in jail, such as in the case
of Poly Hannah Klaas who was a Murderer victim whose case gained national attention. At the
age of twelve, she was kidnapped at knife point from her mother’s home during a slumber party
in Petaluma California. Davis was a twice convicted kidnapper who kidnap and strangled Poly
and buried her in a shallow gravesite just off highway 101. He confessed to kidnapping and
murdering Klaas and led investigators to her body. He had just been released on parole.
Another story where three strikes has done its job of putting criminals away. The callousness
exhibited by the perpetrator. The woman sentenced to prison was a substance abuse counselor
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who under the influence, struck and killed a man with her vehicle, and continued to drive 2 miles
away from the scene of the crime with the victim still ensnared on the hood of her car. Without
three strikes law this woman wouldn’t have been sentenced to 45 years for manslaughter.
So with three strikes is this a just law put into place by lawmaker to make a buck or is this law
truly working for everyone.
Currently our nation has recognize that there is a drug problem and has done nothing to help with
a solution. The United States has less than five percent of the world’s population and we consume
two thirds of the world’s illegal drugs and incarcerated almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners.
We have yet to reduce the number of inmates with substance abuse problems from overcrowding
prisons and jails. According to Statics inmates with substance abuse problems are more likely to
be incarcerated again and again, thus creating Three Strikes you are out. Whys is it that only 11
percent of inmates with substance abuse and addiction disorders receive any treatment during their
incarcerations. If all inmates in need of treatment received such services, the nation would see
economic benefits in just one year even if only 10 percent of the inmates treated remained sober,
crime free and employed, the report found. For each inmate who remained sober, employed and
crime free, the nation would save $91,000 per year. With these high number why not rehab a drug
user and reeducated them mentally & physically. Most repeat offender that use drugs are from low
poverty stricken areas, Why not retrain them and give them a second change while they are still
incarcerated.
Being a drug user and repeat offender has to be one very hard to crack. Drug usage is hard on the
body as well as the mind. Enduring long hours trying to please your habit and trying to locate
where the next high will come from is menacing within itself. Most drug user are repeat offender
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to their self, they usually inflict severe damage on their own bodies daily. According to the
National Study of Jail suicides 47% were from repeated drug user. Most victims used alcohol,
marijuana, synthetic drugs. (methamphetamine, PCP, OxyContin), or multiple illegal drugs.
Released in February, the National Study second report on the topic found that of the 2.3 million
US inmates, 1.5 million suffer from substance abuse addiction and another 458,000 inmates either
had histories of substance abuse, were under the influence of alcohol or other drugs at the time of
committing their crimes. Combined, the two groups make up 85 percent of the U.S. population.
Currently our prison policies on drug offender Is inane and inhuman. Currently our nation has
recognize that there is a drug problem and has done nothing to help with a solution. So with these
statistics has our government given these inmates the tools to rehab their self while incarcerated,
or has our government releases these individual back onto the streets to become repeat offender
again.
We can go on to say that “Three strikes as truly worked in some instances but is the law morally
sane? There is Disadvantages to the three strikes law. The greatest criticism of the law is that the
punishments are often extremely disproportionate to the crime, when an defendant is arrested, for
example, a defendant would steal some videotapes could receive 25 years in prison under the
three strikes law. In any other instance that same defendant would only spend a few months in
jail for the same crime if the three strikes law wasn’t in place. The other major criticism of three
strikes laws is that judges often apply the penalties discriminatorily Racial disparities in prison
sentences, a problem prior to the implementation these laws, have widened even further under
the three strikes system. Racial disparities of three strikes vary with social and economic classes.
In California, the social costs are borne disproportionately by African American men. When
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English 2010
Brandon Alva
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examining the intersectionality between age, race, sex and employment status while controlling
for legal factors, young Black and Hispanic males faced greater chances of imprisonment than
middle aged While males. Evidence shows that judges would often include stereotypes and
characteristics of subgroups I order to apply the three strikes laws. According to the Rand
Corporation crime rate are not the only indicator relative to the reinforcement of these laws.
Higher levels of racial heterogeneity in a population have been directly linked to the
implementation of three strikes laws, demonstrating racial disparities inside the prison
population. There are many ethical and legal implications with the Three Strikes Law that have
raise and problematic and moral questioning over the years. California is the only state where a
misdemeanor crime can be made into a third felony. This mean that a third felony conviction
brings a sentence of 20 to life where 20 years must be served before becoming parole eligible.
In conclusion: This particular type of sentencing is very harsh, having minor criminals serve 25
to life is unjust. I feel that each case needs to be taken into consideration whatever the law.
Housing known repeated criminals is completely just when the crime fits the time. I believe that
this law needs to be revisited every 5 years or so and doing so gives the new generation time to
vote. With the ever changing laws concerning Marijuana and how each state is now legalizing
Marijuana for Medicinal purposes three strikes laws needs to be looked at very closely. Currently
Marijuana is the most frequently used drug in the U.S. about 4% of American adults smoke pot
at least once a year. Marijuana has lots of Medicinal purposes such as helping with multiple
sclerosis, nausea from cancer chemotherapy, poor appetite and weight loss. The money to house
these criminals could and should be put elsewhere like in college funds to reeducate these inmate
when they get out.
Lisa Falaniko
English 2010
Brandon Alva
8
Putting a person in prison for petty crime is the unfairness of this law. When these individual
get out where do they go, uneducated, can’t get any government funding. No one will rent to
them, they can’t find work so once again they become a burden on society these are the ones
that usually end up on skid roll homeless and again become repeat offender. Do the Judges
that so unjustly put these person away have a solution of how to solve this problem? Who will
carry the burden now that they are still dependent on the taxpayer to support them? So have
we created a cycle of making inmates forever dependent on society? What about the children
who have endured years without their father or brother who will teach them that what is going
on is our society correct or wrong. I say rewrite the law, take a look at the prison system and
release inmates that our servicing 5-25 years for drugs, by now they have truly been
rehabilitated.