Recently, Professor Lindsay Smith sent me an article from the New York Times about California’s controversial three strikes sentencing law. In case you have not heard of this law before, the three strikes law significantly increases the prison sentences of persons convicted of a felony who have been previously convicted of two or more violent crimes or serious felonies, and limits the ability of these offenders to receive a punishment other than a life sentence. The law, approved by a ballot initiative in 1994, was implemented after the brutal kidnapping and murder of a little girl by a parolee. The three strikes law was seen as a way of getting killers, rapists and child molesters off the streets forever. While the law had good intentions, it also had unexpected and dire consequences for some. For example, under the statue, the third offense can be any number of low level felony convictions ( passing a bad check, shoplifting low priced items). Perhaps unintentionally, this statue has disproportionately subjected African American’s to life sentences. In addition, and directly related to my paper topic, mentally ill inmates are nearly always jailed for behaviors related to their mental illness. These are often low level petty crimes like the ones described above. In California, the three strikers are higher among those with mental illness. A substantial number of mentally ill persons have been sentenced to multiple, low level offenses, leaving a substantial number of them with life sentences.
The three strikes law, like many laws, ignore persons with mental illness. California is just an example of the injustice that has been inflicted on a vulnerable population that more than often presents no harm or danger to the rest of society. California, and the rest of the United States needs to reassess who we want in our jails and prisons. Do we want people we are afraid of? (i.e. violent murderers, rapists and child molesters) Or do we want people that we’re kind of mad at? (i.e. substance users, shop lifters, drunks, etc). It’s clear that these types of people are not the same and do not commit the same kinds of crimes. But, under our justice system we make laws that say these people are the same and thus should be punished the same. I don’t think an individual, (especially one who is mentally ill), should be serving a life sentence for three petty crimes while some other violent offenders often serve less time on a plea deal.
Sorry California, three strikes your out belongs in a baseball game, not in our justice system.
Hoping For Humanity 