Why 'three strikes' strikes out

Social justice news
September 2001

U.S. remains global master of war
Bush stem cell decision condemned
Drought adds to woes in hard-hit Central America
From welfare poor to working poor?
Layoffs lead to more lucre for U.S. CEOs
New report says "three strikes" strikes out
Report warns of slowing progress on child hunger

Other news this month

New report says "three strikes" strikes out
A new report from the Sentencing Project looks at California's "three-strikes" law seven years and 50,000 prisoners after its enactment. The report "Aging Behind Bars: 'Three Strikes' Seven Years Later," examines a wide range of data and concludes that the law has not contributed to the reduction of crime in California to any significant extent—contrary to the claims of the law's supporters. The study also shows that "three-strikes" has increased the number and severity of sentences for nonviolent offenders, who now make up two-thirds of the state's second and third "strike" sentences.

California includes any of 500 felonies as a "third strike," carrying 25-years-to-life. The "three-strikes" law, the report shows, is rapidly expanding an aging and costly prison population—without the benefit of cutting violent crime, funnelling a growing share of resources to offenders who are moving beyond the age when they would be statistically most likely to be involved in violent crime.

Only 22 percent of arrests in the state are of offenders above age 39 and only 5 percent of arrests are above age 50. The study projects that by 2026, 30,000 offenders will be imprisoned for a third strike with 25-years-to-life sentences, costing $750 million per year. Fully 83 percent of them will be at least 40 years old. The report says that public support for "three strikes" falls off dramatically regarding the practice of severe sentencing for nonviolent offenders.

According to the Sentencing Project, California's considerable drop in crime between 1993 and 1999 (-41 percent) was, much like national crime reductions the study cites, based on a number of factors—an improved economy, declines in gang and drug activity, community policing, the aging of prime crime populations. The report from the Sentencing Project suggests that no relationship exists between crime rate drops and the use of "three-strikes" laws. The report cites numerous additional studies with the same conclusion.

In fact, other jurisdictions have had similar crime rate declines without instituting "three-strikes": New York (-40.9%); Massachusetts (-33.3%); and Washington, D.C. (-31.4%).

Examples of extreme sentencing disparities are not hard to find:

• Scott Benscoter, now a three-striker, had two prior felony convictions for residential burglary when he was sentenced to 25 years to life for the theft of a pair of sneakers.
• Gregory Taylor, homeless, was sentenced to 25 years to life for trying to jimmy a church kitchen door for food.
• Arthur Gibson sentenced to 25 years to life for crack possession, had last been convicted of a violent offense in the 1960s.

For more information:
The Sentencing Project

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