3-Strike Stories: E. Heine
To whom it may concern:
I'm writing this letter about the 3-strikes
law here in California. It seems to me that this law benefits the politicians more than it
does the people of California.
I would like to know, where is the justice in giving a human being 25 years to life
for a non-violent, non-serious felony. Our politicians say the crime rate has gone down.
If that's the case, why is our governor, Pete
Wilson, always asking for more money to build more prisons?
Im 30 years old and I'm doing 26 years to
life under the three-strikes law. I was accused of manufacturing a controlled substance in
1996 and found guilty in 1997. I'm now sitting
here in Susanville state prison doing 26 years to life. I'm not eligible for parole until the year 2023 at the
earliest. Under the three-strike law, you do one hundred percent of the time you were
given.
It was my understanding that the three-strike law was brought into effect to keep
people like Richard Allen Davis off the streets... the rapists and child molesters.
Instead, it's taken the people that have
committed non violent, non serious felonies off the streets.
When you're in prison under the three-strike
law you lose a lot of contact with your family. The contact you get is a 15 minute phone
call, and visits for a few hours at a time. That's
if your family lives close enough to visit.
I thought the whole idea of prison was to rehabilitate a person, and get them ready to
become a productive member of society. The way prisons are now, they are overcrowd and
have no form of rehabilitation. So when a person is released, all they know is the same
way of life.
The only thing a prison is, is a human warehouse, where every day you are slowly
dying, not just physically, but also mentally. I see the crime problem in this country as
a stepping stone for the politicians. Look at how much is spent on prisons. There is no
end to the spending.
I admit that I've made some mistakes in
life, but I'm not a career criminal. I'm a loving, caring father and son. I feel that your
family should come before anything else.
personally, I don't see the justice in
sending someone to prison for so long for making a mistake, and going down the wrong path;
do you?
The politicians will say once a criminal, always a criminal. That we should be locked
up under the three strike law because there's a
chance we will commit another crime. Isn't there
a good chance that we could be rehabilitated and become a productive member of the
community? Someone that would be proud of ourselves, and for our families and community to
be proud of?
Under the three-strike law we're not given a
chance; you're more or less condemned to life in
prison for making a mistake. There's a saying: "let the time fit the crime." Not here in California. Here, it's lock them up for 25 years to life and forget about
them, because there's a chance they will do
something wrong again. What's the chance of
coming out of prison 25 years from now, and being a productive person?
I don't know if any one cares enough to read
this, and to do something to change the way the state of California throw people away.
There is still a lot of good in some of us. Before you condemn us to die in prison, just
think if could be you or someone you know and love, sitting here for making a mistake.
So think about that before you let the politicians throw away the key!
Please send questions or comments to facts@mediaone.net.
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Date last modified: 6/3/98.