The California Three Strikes Law: The Undemocratic Production of Injustice

Dissertation by Doug Kieso---December, 2003

(Note: When converting to pdf files, the margins were changed just slightly causing some minor changes from the original. Also, if your browser cannot read the pdf files, you might have to download Adobe Reader, which can be found at: http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html )

	Page
FRONTMATTER	i
INTRODUCTION	1
CHAPTER 1: PASSAGE OF THE THREE STRIKES LAW The Death of Kimber Reynolds The Death of Polly Klaas Public Pressure and the Passage of AB971 Reynolds’ Initiative and the November Election	10 12 15 22 31
CHAPTER 2: THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF COMMON CRIMINALS IN THE UNITED STATES The Stigmatization and Lack of Political Power of Criminals Fundamental Attribution Error Schemas Heuristics Racism, Prejudices, and Stereotypes Crimes of the Poor Versus Crimes of the Rich Social Learning and Normative Conformity	37 38 40 42 45 47 55 60
CHAPTER 3: THE NATIONAL STATE OF MIND ON CRIME AND PUNISHMENT IN THE 1980S AND 1990S The Crime Control Model Versus the Due Process Model Rehabilitation and the Idea that “Nothing Works” Victim Rights and the Infliction of More Pain for Revenge The Rise and Fall of Prisoner Rights Movements The “Red Scare” Ends and “Domestic Crime” Receives the Focus as the Enemy Sensationalistic News and the “Soundbite” The Poor Become an Enemy The Increasing Numbers: Population, Immigrants, and Racism	62 62 70 73 76 77 78 85 88
CHAPTER 4: THE STATE OF MIND OF CALIFORNIA VOTERS IN 1993 AND 1994 California Crime California Crime Control California’s Radical Prison Movement and Changes in Rehabilitation The California Prison Guard Union Becomes Politically Powerful The Population Explosion in California and Increasing Numbers of Latin and Asian Immigrants Earthquakes, Mudslides, Fires, a Riot, and a Recession All Increase Tensions and Anxiety in California Conclusion	93 97 100 103 114 122 126 135
CHAPTER 5: CALIFORNIA INITIATIVES AND THE THREE STRIKES LAW The Initiative Process The California Three Strikes Law	136 136 145
CHAPTER 6: THE THREE STRIKERS AND THE COUNTIES THAT CREATED THEM Ricky Fontenot The Numbers California Counties Analysis of County Patterns Conclusion	177 177 181 186 202 211
CHAPTER 7: DISCRETION AND THE THREE STRIKES LAW Personal Attitudes and Ideologies of Decision-Makers Discretion by Agencies Other than Prosecutors Conclusion The Following Chapters	213 221 224 252 253
CHAPTER 8: LOS ANGELES COUNTY Los Angeles County Gilbert L. Garcetti Stephen L. Cooley	254 254 259 272
CHAPTER 9: SAN FRANCISCO AND ALAMEDA COUNTIES San Francisco Arlo Smith Terrance Tyrone “Kayo” Hallinan Alameda County Thomas Orloff	286 286 290 300 315 319
CHAPTER 10: KERN, KINGS, AND DEL NORTE COUNTIES Kern County Edward R. Jagels Kings County Gregory Strikland and Ronald L. Calhoun Del Norte County William Cornell	326 326 330 340 343 347 350
CHAPTER 11: ORANGE COUNTY Orange County Michael Capizzi and Scott Baugh Anthony Rackauckas Orange County and Three Strikes	352 352 356 366 375
CHAPTER 12: Policy research and ConstitUTional ANALYSIS OF THE THREE STRIKES LAW Policy Research Constitutional Analysis	378 378 390
CHAPTER 13: THE ELEMENT OF RANDOMNESS AND LACK OF DEMOCRACY IN THE APPLICATION OF THE THREE STRIKES LAW The Expectation of Nonrandomness in Punishments Randomness and the Disparity of Sentencing with the Three Strikes Law The Problems with the Disparity of Sentencing Arguments Against the Conclusions of a 1999 Study	417 418 419 438 440
Chapter 14: THE POLITICS OF THREE STRIKES AFTER 1994 Political Events Brief History and Comments on the Efforts to Amend the Three Strikes Law The Future	448 448 450 454
CHAPTER 15: JUSTICE AND DEMOCRACY Policy Analysis and Justice Analysis The Overlooked “Justice” Issues Regarding Three Strikes The Effects of “Injustice” From the Three Strikes Law on Society Democracy, Legislative Action, and the Three Strikes Law Further Discussion on The Element of Randomness and the Three Strikes Law	459 459 462 472 474 481
CHAPTER 16: RECOMMENDATIONS AND BRIEF CONCLUDING THOUGHTS Recommendations Concluding Thoughts	487 487 491
Appendix A: penal code section 667(b) through (j)	492
Appendix b: Penal Code Section 1170.12	497
Appendix c: Penal code section 1192.7(c) as of june 30, 1993	502
Appendix d: Penal code section 667.5(c) as of june 30, 1993	505
Appendix e: penal code section 1192.7(c) after march 7, 2000	507
Appendix f: Penal code section 667.5(c) after march 7, 2000	511