3-Strikes Fallacies

The public believes many things about the criminal justice system and crime that are not true. The 3-Strikes law was passed and continues to be upheld because of many of these fallacies. The following are some statistics and comments from books and articles on crime fallacies related to the 3-Strikes law. PLEASE SEND US NEW DATA AND ARTICLES IF YOU HAVE THEM.

The list of fallacies:

Crime rates are decreasing because of the 3-Strikes law

Judges will always use the discretion under the Romero decision to correct unjust sentences

The 3-Strikes law is a deterrent for drug crimes

Fallacy: The 3-Strikes law is a deterrent for drug crimes

Many people believe that increasing the punishment against drug offenders will get them to stop taking drugs. Unfortunately, this isn't true. Once an addict, their top priority is getting a fix. A prison sentence (no matter how long) is the last thing on their mind.

A study by the Orange County Register showed that nearly 2/3rds of Orange County criminals granted a reprieve from the 3-Strikes law, which could have put them in prison for life, blew the opportunity and ended up back behind bars. Police re-arrested 22 of 34 defendants who were released to society after their 3-Strikes cases were reduced to misdemeanors. Half of them were charged with new felonies.

Most new charges against the offenders, who already had been spared sentences of 25 years to life in prison, were related to substance abuse. "I'm not surprised," said Nancy Clark, who operates three Orange County recovery centers filled exclusively with court-referred addicts. "There's no such thing as scaring people straight."

The crimes committed by the 22 individuals were as follows:

Felonies  
Check forgery 7
Theft by convicted thief 2
Possession of methamphetamine 2
Vehicle theft 2
Possession of stolen property 2
Burglary 1
Possession of cocaine 1
Possession of heroin 1
Failure to register as a sex offender 1
Total 19
Misdemeanors  
Under influence of controlled substance 6
Possession of marijuana 5
Evading, resisting, interfering with police 3
Driving with a suspended license 3
Possession of drug paraphernalia 3
Drinking in public 3
Vehicle tampering 2
Driving under the influence of narcotics 2
Possession of burglary tools 1
Escape 1
Presenting false ID to a police officer 1
Hit-and-run driving 1
Petty theft 1
Indecent exposure 1
Public drunkenness 1
Urinating in public 1
Loitering 1
Total 36

OCRegister, 10/26/97

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Date last modified: 10/30/97.