California Locked into the 3-Strikes Law?

This will not be an easy battle--but someday, we will win.  In order for it to be sooner rather than later, we will need many more people to help us. 

Because the 3-Strikes law was passed by a public initiative, we need to either go through the legislative route or the initiative route.

The legislative route would require a 2/3 vote in both the California Senate and Assembly and a signature by the governor.  It is rumored that only twice in California history has this been possible.

The initiative route would require a $200 filing fee to the state attorney general and 419,260 valid signatures to qualify for the ballot.   Because many signatures are deemed invalid, it is estimated that 700,000 should be obtained.  In order to get the signatures, most people go through professional organizations and pay between 35 cents and $1 per signature.  And then, after getting on the ballot, you need to advertise--which is estimated to cost between a few hundred thousand dollars and several million dollars.  For more information on the official steps to submit an initiative to the public, click here.

It is estimated to cost between $3 million to $5 million to hire a top consulting firm and $40,000 to $60,000 to produce a typical initiative commercial.   The highest amount spent on broadcast advertising for an initiative was $25 million.

During 1997, there was $141,274,345 spent supporting or opposing the 27 measures on the 1997 ballots.  LATimes, 4/16/98.

We need your help desperately!  The 3-Strike families do not have any deep pockets and barely can make ends meet as it is.  We need people who care about others to join our efforts or we will not get this passed and many people will be spending their lives in prison for very minor crimes.  Please look into your heart and do the right thing!

Get out the Vote!!

Unfortunately, the people most effected by the 3-strikes law are the least likely to be registered to vote or do not turn out for the vote. We, therefore, need to encourage a greater number of people to vote.

For information on who can vote and how to register, click here.

Information at the Secretary of States web site.

Voter Turnout on the June 2, 1998 primaries was only 40.68% (5,941,687).

LATimes, 6/16/98

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Date last modified: 7/21/98.