Posted on 09/27/2004 5:38:46 PM PDT by BenLurkin
PALMDALE - A proposition that would place new restrictions on California's three-strikes prison-sentencing law has been met with contempt by officials who represent the Antelope Valley. Proposition 66, which voters will see on election ballots this November, seeks to amend the current three-strikes law by requiring increased sentences only for violent or serious felonies.
Supporters say it restores the original intention of the three-strikes law, which they say has been misused to put nonviolent, petty offenders in prison for life.
But opponents say it would create a dangerous legal loophole for convicted criminals and flood the streets with newly released felons.
"Crime has really become one of the top issues, and three strikes has proven to be successful," said Assemblywoman Sharon Runner, R-Lancaster, who opposes Prop. 66. "We need to protect three strikes. I think it's made California safer."
The three-strikes law, passed by California voters in 1994, allows those with two or more violent or serious felonies on their records to be sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for any new felony conviction. Enhanced sentences also are implemented on a second strike.
But critics point out that the law has resulted in life sentences for crimes as minor as shoplifting.
"What everybody likes about three strikes is the stiff sentences for repeat violent offenders," said Sandy Harrison, spokesman for Yes on 66, Fix Three Strikes campaign.
"What we don't like is the illogical sentencings on nonviolent petty crimes. It's Draconian to give a shoplifter with two burglaries on his record the same sentence as a rapist. We want to restore a sense of balance."
Prop. 66 would require that in order for a defendant to be prosecuted as a third striker, the crime would have to be a violent or serious offense. The proposition goes on to narrow the definition of what is considered a violent or serious offense.
Under Prop. 66 several crimes currently considered violent or serious offenses would no longer be considered as such. Some of these include attempted burglary, conspiracy to commit assault, non-residential arson resulting in no significant injury and burglary of an unoccupied residence.
The proposition also would increase the prison sentence for sex offenses against children under 14.
Los Angeles District Attorney Steve Cooley has implemented a policy within his office of evaluating potential third-strike cases on an individual basis in order to safeguard against illogical sentencings. But Cooley said he opposes Prop. 66 because thousands of convicted felons throughout the state would be resentenced, causing as many as 18,000 felons in Los Angeles County alone to be released.
Harrison said those figures are grossly exaggerated.
He said the number is closer to 4,200 statewide.
Those on opposite sides of the issue also disagree on the fiscal impact the proposition would have. Supporters say the state will save hundreds of millions of dollars each year within its prison system.
But opponents warn that re-sentencings will strain cash-strapped and overcrowded county jails. Parole officers also will be inundated with newly released cases.
Runner and Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, Republican leader in the Assembly, say what worries them most is the early release of felons.
"They have to serve the time," McCarthy said. "And usually it's not the first crime they've committed, it's the first time they've gotten caught."
Added Runner, "More people are getting off than the other way around. I don't want these people living in my neighborhood. Maybe if they know they have two felonies on their record, they'll move to another state."
Prop. 66 is supported by several groups and individuals including Joe Klaas, chairman for Citizens Against Violent Crime and grandfather of kidnapped and murdered child Polly Klaas; Families to Amend California's Three Strikes; Mark Leno, chairman for the California State Assembly Committee on Public Safety; and the American Civil Liberties Union.
It is opposed by several groups and individuals including Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Attorney General Bill Lockyer and the California District Attorneys Association.
From David W. Paulson, President of the California District Attorneys Association:
...Since enacting "three strikes," California's crime rate has plummeted by twice the national average, according to the FBI. Simultaneously, the state Department of Corrections has reported that our per-capita prison population has declined. "Three strikes" targets the few criminals committing the vast majority of crimes. Only 5 percent of California's prison population is composed of third-strike offenders. In fact, the number of third-strikers annually committed to prison has declined consistently since 1996, to only 401 last year, according to the California Department of Corrections Data Analysis Unit.
Why? Because the law is working. Some predicted it would bankrupt the state, but it has saved billions of dollars by preventing crime by repeat offenders. More important, countless families have been spared from devastating violence...
...the measure would release approximately 26,000 dangerous offenders, whose crimes would no longer trigger the "three strikes" law. Among these inmates is Kenneth Parnell, the infamous pedophile who kept Steven Stayner captive for seven years. Another is Steven Mathews, previously convicted of murder and raping his own mother. A third man awaiting trial was earlier convicted of dousing his six- year-old son with kerosene and lighting him on fire...
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