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| This is Mike' generic reply to those who insisit on emailing him the same question over and over, "In retrospect, would you like to amend Three Strikes to make the third strike serious or violent?" And you students know who you are. |
| When we designed this law, there was a choice between making it politically correct or making it work. If you have done your homework then you know there are 23 other states with 3-Strikes laws. Other states require all three strikes to be serious or violent. The question to ask is simple, "How many offenders have other state's 3-Strike laws put behind bars? The answer is few. In some states none. Even the federal 3-Strikes law only incarcerates a handful per year. |
| The second question is, "What are other states' crime rates in relation to other states with so-called 3-Strikes laws? |
| The answer is that there is no pattern or difference between those with and those without - except California. |
| Criminals have seen laws come and go and they continue their crime without hesitation. They have found that most laws are all bark and no bite - except California's 3-Strikes. The simple fact is that if you are not prepared to lock up criminals then you are not prepared to stop crime. |
| As you know, district attorneys have a choice whether or not to charge a defendant with a strike. Most understand that by the time a person has 2 serious, and or violent convictions that he is a clear risk to society and that he must be removed - struck out - before they strike again. If laws are about chances, when does that chance go to the next victim? |
| NOTE: Three district attorneys in California have made it policy not to charge a third strike unless it, along with the first and second strikes, is serious or violent. Those counties are Los Angeles, Alameda and San Francisco. These counties are also seeing huge jumps in violent crime that are raising the entire state's crime statistics. |
| The people who want to amend this law know full well that by changing the last strike to serious or violent will release 1/2 of California's 3-Strikers - all with at least 2 serious or violent prior convictions. |
| After 3-Strikes passed and within 5 years, California was able to cut its murder rate in half and reduce overall crime by over 40%. That is twice the national average and better than 49 other states. |
| To change this law is to virtually undo it. Every case, as you know, is carefully considered by a prosecutor and reevaluated by a judge before a third strike is handed down. This sorts the wheat from the chaff and protects both society and defendants for a fair and balanced application. |
| This may be the toughest law in America, but it is also the most effective. |
| Do not change the law. |
| Mike Reynolds |
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