Article by Brian Berardo
A GOOD LAW POORLY WRITTEN
by Brian Berardo
There was much euphoria when the 3 Strikes Law went into effect back in
1994. And rightly so! At long last, the people of California had some
protection from the career criminal. A law with some teeth in it!! At least
that's what we thought at the time. Sadly, it turns out these righteous and
voracious jaws of justice are not very good at discriminating between the
violent repeat criminal and the hapless. Suddenly minor offenses committed by a
person who's been clean and a productive member of society for 20 years or more
can see his/her life destroyed, serving a greater sentence than the rapist and
murderer, and then watch in horror as his/her family is slowly torn apart!! How
can this be??
That's what the people at FACTS (Families to Amend California's
3-Strikes) law are asking. That's what we need to ask ourselves!! FACTS members
are sympathetic to the spirit of the 3-strikes law. Who needs violent predators
on the streets??? FACTS major purpose, however, it to amend the 3-strikes law
in California so it is only applicable to SERIOUS and VIOLENT crimes. It
further believes that:
1) The law should not be applicable to crimes committed before it's
enactment in 1994.
2) The law should not count multiple counts during a single act as
multiple strikes.
3) The law should include a "washout" period such that convictions
older than 10 years do not count as strikes.
4) Burglary of unoccupied dwellings should not count as "serious or
violent" strikes.
5) The law should not be applicable to juvenile offenses.
You may ask, "What's the big deal?". Glad you asked. Check out the
results of the absence of the above amendments on www.facts1.com. Tragic
stories of human ruination abound. There would be more stories to add but
AMAZINGLY, most interviews of inmates are AGAINST THE LAW!!! In many cases,
stories were passed along at great risk to the inmates themselves! Yes, dear
reader, this is going on in YOUR State, in the country having the highest rate
of incarcerated people on the planet. The list of FACTS supporters found on the
web page will make your heart leap. Even the California State Assembly and
Senate have voted to review the results of this misguided law but our governor
has vowed to veto it!
Please take the time to check out the information on this web page and
decide for yourself. Sure there's lots of good causes out there. But ask
yourself how you'd feel if your parent or spouse got sentenced to 33 years for
a DUI because of crimes committed 20 years earlier when a juvenile. So long as
there is even one inmate suffering unjust incarceration, our society is
weakened, and our humanity diminished. It isn't enough that the 3-Strikes law
was well intentioned. It MUST be made a GOOD law otherwise we ALL pay the
consequences. This is too IMPORTANT a law to have it be poorly written!!
Please send questions or comments to
factsla@sbcglobal.net.
Everything on this web site can be distributed to
the general public, reprinted, or reposted without permission of Families to
Amend California's 3-Strikes.
Date last modified: 1/30/98.