3-Strikes is Inhumane and Unjust
The 3-Strikes law was originally intended to put murderers, rapists and
hard-core violent criminals in prison for a long time. Unfortunately, through
the "chest-thumping" of politicians, the 3-Strikes law was expanded
to include many individuals who have committed only minor offenses. Instead of
receiving any type of sentence that would appear "just" or
"proportional" to the crime committed, many are spending 25 years or
more in prison for as minor an offense as possession of drugs.
Some politicians proclaim that 3-Strikes is a great deterrent. Currently
the data does not suggest this to be the case, but there is some logic to the
argument that says if you increase punishments to people found guilty of some
crimes that some deterrence will probably occur. For instance, if you impose
the death penalty on traffic violators, many people will probably slow down
their driving (and probably decrease the number of deaths on our highways). The
question, however, is whether such a penalty would be "just."
One of the foundations of "justice" in the United States, and
perhaps the world, has been that people should not be punished for what they
"might" do, but what they have "actually" done. The
"injustice" of giving the death penalty to speeders is felt because
the speeder has not individually caused "harm" yet to society, but
represents only the "possibility" of causing harm. One of the
greatest problems with California's 3-Strikes law is that it punishes people
for what they "might" do. Committing a couple of burglaries of
unoccupied dwellings and then having a possession charge is a far cry from
committing or leading to extremely violent acts. The "injustice" is
felt because the person is being punished because they only represent the
"possibility" of causing harm.
The conditions for 3-Strikers are also disproportionate to the minor
offenses of which they are convicted. While white-collar criminals who have
stolen millions of dollars can go to minimum security prisons (often with
privileges of home release), 3-Strikers who have committed crimes of
"petty theft" and "possession of narcotics" are classified
as level 4 prisoners and sent to maximum security prisons. They are housed with
the most violent offenders (which obviously increases the chances of injury
while incarcerated) and the conditions are much harsher and strict. Most
maximum security prisons are in a constant state of "lockdown" (which
basically means the inmates are confined to their cells all day). And,
currently, if someone in a maximum security prison is suspected of taking
drugs, they can be strapped naked to a bench for 48 hours while they urinate
and defecate on themselves. Visiting privileges and phone privileges are
minimal; and, visiting is usually complicated because level 4 prisoners can
often be located at the other end of the state making it an expensive and
all-day event for family members and friends just to get to the prison.
In California, prison conditions appear to be even worse than other states
because of a growing influence of abuse by guards against prisoners. Abuses
committed by California prison guards was well documented by "60
minutes" in its May 1, 1997 episode on Corcoran prison where prison guards
were shown setting up "gladiator fights" between prisoners and then
shooting the prisoners to stop the fights. The officials who blew the whistle
at Corcoran were also quoted as saying that the problem is pervasive in many
other parts of the California prison system. Much of this abuse was well
documented at the Senate hearings on just the Corcoran prison in the summer of
1998. In addition, because of the enormous influence that the prison guard
union has in lobbying politicians (see prison guard
union influence), one has to worry whether investigations into abuses by
the California Departments of Corrections are being conducted in as strong a
manner as they should be.
In addition, in their zest for more punishment, the CDC has been severely
taking back many rights and privileges that had been gained by the prisoners in
prior years. The CDC has been taking away weight-lifting equipment and law
books, imposing grooming standards and disallowing packages from visitors. All
of these new standards make the prison experience that much more inhumane and
create more and more tension within the prisons.
The following are some statistics and comments from books and articles on
the injustice of the sentencing to many 3-Strikers and the abusive conditions
the 3-Strikers must live with. PLEASE SEND US NEW DATA AND ARTICLES IF YOU HAVE
THEM.
Tulare County investigates increase in jail suicides
of 3-Strikers
In Tulare County, three inmates committed suicide in 1998. That
brought the suicide count in the Tulare County jail system to nine since
1991. Dr. Rama Khalsa, the coastal county's director of mental health
said a recent survey by her office indicated that the number of suicides and
attempted suicides in some jails is rising. And, she said, the survey
indicated the increases might be traced to "some unusual patterns of
suicidal behavior in inmates facing their 'Third Strike.'"
The survey was sent in October to every county health director in the
state. It asked: "Are you having an increase in jail suicides since
the 'Three Strikes' law passed?" Out of 35 counties responding to
the survey, 12 answered "yes."
Jose Vasquez, 43, found hanging in from bed sheets in his cell on Jan. 2,
Gary Risenhoover, 36, found hanging from his shoelace on Jan. 9 and Kevin
Dwayne Bills, 20, found hanging from bed sheets on Feb. 1, were all
questionable whether "Three Strikes" may have pushed the inmates over
the edge.
The same day Bills hanged himself, a 21-year-old woman from Tulare was
rescued by jail staff members after she tore her T-shirt into strips and was
tying them around her neck. A suicide note was later found in her cell
said Sheriff's Lt. Steve Keithley. The woman who had been arrested Jan.
29 for drug and traffic violations, indicated in her note that she thought she
was facing 25 years-to-life in state prison if convicted. "I don't
know if she was a Third Strike candidate, but the important thing here is that
is what she perceived," he said. "Tulare County officials plan
to attend Santa Cruz meeting on inmate suicide," by Louis Galvan, The
Fresno Bee.
Rather than face 3-Strikes 32-year old commits
suicide.
Steven White had two 1983 burglary convictions when he stole a $146
videocassette recorder in April of 1996. Rather than face the prospect of life
in prison, Steven shot himself to death. He left three suicide notes: one to
his family, another apologizing to police, and a third blaming the California
state law. Steven was 32 years old. FAMM web site, 1996.
Fearing 3-Strikes, 22-year-old Clinton James Warner
commits suicide.
Clinton James Warner shot and killed himself fearing he faced a
25-years-to-life prison sentence. The 22-year-old Fullerton resident was found
Oct. 14, 1996 with a gunshot wound to his head. Police said a backpack found
with the body contained a note from Warner about his worries of going to jail
life. Warner, who had a string of past arrests for assault, drug possession and
theft, was arrested twice during the summer for being under the influence of
the drug methamphetamine. OC-Register,
10/16/96.
Jurors rebel against "3 Strikes" law
The 3-Strikes law is meeting resistance from some jurors around the state,
who have refused to convict some defendants and sought leniency for others
after learning they faced life sentences for nonviolent crimes, the San
Francisco Chronicle reported on 9/25/96.
In one will-publicized case, after a Los Angeles court clerk told Henry
Jackson Jr. in May that a jury had convicted him of possessing a single rock of
cocaine, Jackson stood, picked up the defense table and then shouted to jurors,
"I want you all to know you put me away for 25 to life."
Jackson, who had four previous felony convictions, was dragged from the
courtroom. Individual jurors were then polled on their verdicts, and two of the
12 said they were not voting to convict him. A mistrial was declared over the
protests of prosecutors, who appealed unsuccessfully.
Jackson was retried and convicted in Sept. of 1996, without further
outbursts, and faces a possible 25 to life sentence.
OC-Register, 9/25/96 and
"Some Jurors Revolt Over 3 Strikes Penalty prospects sway their
verdicts," by Harriet Chiang, The San Francisco Chronicle, 9/24/96.
Prosecutor fired for refusing to try a 3-Strikes
case.
David Bristow, a young rising star in the San Bernadino County District
Attorney's Office, was fired for refusing to prosecute a 3-Strikes case. The
case involved a Pomona man's alleged possession of 0.23 gram of cocaine,
stashed in the ashtray of a borrowed car. It was classified a nonviolent felony
but still considered a 3rd strike because he previously had been convicted of
robbery and burglary.
This would have been the first felony case tried by Bristow, who began
working for the San Bernadino district attorney's office 2 1/2 years earlier.
"Possession of that amount of cocaine was not worth that kind of
sentence," Bristow said. "It struck me as grotesque."
Within days after being told he would have to leave the D.A. office,
Bristow joined the public defender's office.
Bristow's position on the 3-Strikes law has garnered him a Conscience Award
from the ACLU of Southern California. OC-LATimes, 4/25/96.
Juror writes editorial on immorality of the 3-Strikes
law
Expressing her concern about having sent an offender to prison for 25 years
to life, Katrina Dewey investigated his past and wrote an editorial to the
Orange County-LA Times.
"Victor Pacheco was just one more piece of human detritus to be thrown
into the garbage pit we call prison under an immoral law, the three-strikes
law. And I, as a juror upholding this law, put him there."
"He was charged with possession of heroin when, police said, five
small balloons containing the drug were found in his mouth."
"How is it just, Pacheco might wonder, that society could so
dramatically change the consequences of something he did, and was punished for,
year ago? In 1985, when he first pleaded guilty to robbery, he did not know
that his seemingly rational decision to admit guilt rather than demand a jury
trial would one day be considered his "first strike" in a surreal
perversion of the civilized sport of baseball. In 1991, when he again pleaded
guilty to several counts of robbery, no one warned him that he was one step
away from forfeiting his liberty forever."
"Since that time, he had started a family and generally seemed to have
gotten on with his life, though admittedly continuing his long-standing heroin
habit. How can it be fair, he might ask, to add a drug offense committed just
months after 'three-strikes' was enacted to crimes committed years earlier, to
deem him 'out,' a life loser."
"To that, I have no adequate response other than to say that the legal
system in this country has become one of laws and not of justice, of form over
substance. It is no fault of the excellent judge or lawyers on either side;
they are merely the sanitation engineers of this particular disposal system,
given little discretion to but cart away what 'the people' judge to be
disposable."
"I have come as near as one can to taking a man's life without killing
him. I hope that Victor Pacheco understands why I had to commit an immoral act
at his expense. And I pray that our system will someday again be one of justice
and not just law." OC-LATimes,
3/28/96.
Judge says "I refuse to dispense injustice."
Judge Carol J. Fieldhouse, a key member of the Los Angeles County Superior
Court's special committee to study the impact of 3-Strikes, said that although
violent criminals deserve to be sent away for life, people he considers to be
"nuisances" do not.
"I refuse to dispense injustice," Fieldhouse said.
OC-LATimes, 10/23/94.
Judge Jean says 3-Strikes "utterly
Draconian"
"My complaint with the 'three strikes' law as written . . . is that is
seems to snare a passel of ne'er-do-wells, lightweight offenders, petty thieves
and that ilk, for which the sentences are utterly Draconian," said
Superior Judge Arthur Jean Jr.
In addition, he argues, it is simply unworkable. The law multiplies the
number of cases that go to trial because the long prison sentences prescribed
for third and even second-time felons mean that defendants are not likely to
plead guilty.
Jean is generally seen as a tough sentencer who has little sympathy for
repeat offenders. He also has little sympathy for lawyers, or cases, that he
believes are wasting time.
"You have to understand that people are different, they do things for
different motivations, and they have different possibilities in their
lives," he said. LATimes,
10/94.
Marc Klaas says that Polly would not have supported
application of 3-Strikes to non-violent offenders
Marc Klaas, whose 12-year old daughter's murder helped propel the 3-Strikes
law through the legislature, said his daughter would not have supported the
spirit of the current law.
"Polly was a gentle soul, who did not believe in injustice, because
Polly would not hurt a fly. Polly would give her last dollar to a homeless
person, and Polly would not support an initiative to put a pizza thief in jail
for life," Klaas said, referring to a "three strikes" cases
where a Redondo Beach man faces 25 years to life in prison for stealing some
slices of pizza.
The Los Angeles County district attorney's office says 70% of all 3-Strike
cases prosecuted by the office have been against nonviolent offenders.
Klaas said the law "casts far too wide a net."
LATimes, 10/19/94.
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3-Strikes.
Date last modified: 7/1/99.
