The Three Strikes Laws For Repeat Criminal Offenders

Before we talk about why New Mexico enacted the three strikes law, I want to first talk about its origin in California which influenced New Mexico to pass the law in 1994. The three strikes law is a penalizing system that allows the court to add significant time to the prison judgements of certain repeat offenders who have been put away for serious or violent crimes. The three strikes law was adopted in 1990s to allow stricter punishments for those offenders who have convicted very serious crimes more than once. In 1990s, Californians were encouraged to get tough on crime measures which histrionically increased the prison population and the length of prison sentences. Most candidates in the past years have dreaded with being considered as “soft on crime,” which got worse throughout the legislative route. The three strikes law was generated in the 1990s in reaction to18-year-old Kimber Reynolds, daughter of Mike Reynold murdered in Fresno in 1992 by Douglas David Walker, and kidnapped and murdered of 12-year-old Polly klaas by repeat offender Richard Allen Davis in 1993 (Figure 1). There were many citizens in California who were terrified by the statement that the repeat criminals are still on the streets wandering around freely with the long past history of violent crimes. After all the horrific violent crimes happened in California, California legislators and voters

The California’s Three Strikes Law was an act that came into place under the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. The law was enacted to help deal with violent repeat offenders. The essence of three strikes law was to require a defendant convicted of any new felony, suffered prior convictions of a serious felony to be sentenced to state prison. In this paper I will discuss the three strikes laws adding to prison overcrowding, does it targets non-violent offenders, and are these laws a deterrent. America’s incarceration addiction grew during the late 1980s and early 1990s, as state and local government passed the “three strikes” law called for mandatory sentencing of repeat offenders. California's "three strikes and you're

The three strikes law implemented in the 1990s as deterrence for a crime. Even though the three strikes law created to remove those considered a threat to society, many agree that this law needs revamping. Studies show that the three strikes law has not detoured crime drastically, but has been successful in removing repeat offenders from endangering the public again. This law included crimes that were nonviolent or petty crimes counted as a third strike in California. The state of California has been one of the cities with the biggest incarceration rate since the three strikes law enacted.

Hispanics make up for 42% of the prison population in both Arizona and California. I personally don’t agree with the three strike law because I think the practices regarding the law is unjust and not fair. I think that the law will increase violence, increase unnecessary backlogs in the courts more than what they already face and have defendants facing harsh life sentences for crimes that shouldn’t be as

People who support the programs feel like it helps to reduce crime and arrest rates which will eventually help to deter criminals with the threat of increased incarceration. It has also been proven that three strikes laws reduce felony arrest rates. People in favor of three strikes laws it is an example of effective crime control, a preventive measure for career felons, adds additional peace of mind for citizens, and provides harsher punishments for habitual offenders. Those who are against the use of three strikes laws believe that it adds an additional cost to courts and prisons, causes an over population in prison cells, is an example of unfair law, and is a result of the decline in the number of law enforcement officer

Gertner, N. (2012 May). On competence, legitimacy, and proportion. Pennsylvania Law Review, 160(6), 1585-1597. doi:Ebscohost database

One of the most controversial laws in the efforts to reduce crime has been the "three-strikes" laws that have been enacted. This law, which is already in twenty-seven states, requires that offenders convicted of three violent crimes be sentenced to life in prison without chance of parole. The law is based on the idea that the majority of felonies are committed by about 6% of hard core criminals and that crime can be eliminated by getting these criminals off the streets. Unfortunately, the law fails to take into account its own flaws and how it is implemented.

The Law has caused a huge controversial debate and there are people that personally disagree with the law. As in any controversial debate you would have the affirmative and the negative side. Let’s explore some of the positive facts that the Three Strikes Law that support the affirmative side. To start of with one popular note is that it keeps the career criminals, individuals who commit crime as a part of their lives, off the streets. Of course we want to keep the sex offenders, murderers, and rapist, off the street so we can worry that much less for the safety of ourselves and others. Another positive is that it is a deterrent. It is a very effective deterrent after the second conviction (Mersseli). If an offender is released from the second conviction, this law will deter them from any crime, whether it is minor or not. The thought of being sent to prison for 25 years to life is a pretty effective deterrent and will have that offender thinking more than twice before he or she will commit another crime.

Giving second chances or third chances are often difficult tasks when dealing with personal issues and relationships, but when crime is involved, the flood gates open wide with varying opinions. Questions of all degrees become intertwined with the basis of the crime, the type of victimization that took place, and how ‘morally wrong’ we as citizens view this criminal act. Oftentimes citizens, prosecutors, and even judges focus on what type of crime has been committed, but overlook the person behind that action. A human, whom based on their circumstances, needs additional support in one way or another in their life.

In the early 1990’s, numerous states began implementing criminal statutes that mandated increased sentences for repeat offenders of serious crimes; we know this as the “three strikes law." States implement three strike laws to ensure that repeat offenders are constantly imprisoned. The logic is that while a criminal is in prison he or she can’t be out in public hurting anyone. Since three strikes laws apply to defendants who commit multiple crimes in succession, these laws aim to keep criminals that are most likely to re-offend in prison. As a matter of fact, by 2012 more than half the states and the federal government enacted three strikes laws. The states which carry three strikes or habitual offender laws are: Arizona, Arkansas, California,

Since the policy was enacted in the early 1990s, three strikes laws have been one of the most controversial issues facing the American criminal justice system. In general, advocates believe that locking up criminals will protect society. Critics believe that three-strike policy can only be effective with offenders that are on their last strikes (Worrall, 2008). However, other critics explain how three-strike laws don’t significantly reduce crime because most criminals mature out of the criminal lifestyle (Worrall, 2004).

Recidivism is a tendency to relapse into a former pattern of behavior or a tendency to return to criminal behavior. Many studies have been conducted about criminals who begin with petty crimes (misdemeanors) that repeat the same crimes or graduate to serious crimes (felonies). The fear of repeat offenders and the increase of recidivism ignited the federal and state governments to seek harsher ways to protect citizens’ safety. Mike Reynolds a photographer whose daughter, Kimber, was murdered in1992 during a purse snatching incident introduced the Three Strikes Law in 1993. State legislators did consider and rejected this law because they believed the measures were harsh and costly. However, the Three Strikes Law

Another advantage of the three strikes law is that it provides assistance to repair a defective justice system so convicted felons who choose to be repeat offenders will stay in prison. In today’s society, most crimes are committed by repeat offenders. (Kitchen, 2008). One possible reason this could be is that it is the way of life for most. The streets and committing crimes is all they know and have grown accustomed to. They commit crimes in hopes of never getting caught but they eventually they do. But even with this, they continue to commit crimes because that is what they know. Another possible reason could be that some repeat offenders commit crimes because they would rather be locked up behind bars then out in society. Some actually know that they are incapable of living civilized lives so they choose to commit crimes to be in a place where they are accepted for who they are. So because most crimes are committed by repeat offenders, this law was implemented as an instrument that the system can use to prevent such actions. It also helps with the reduction of liberal sentences, plea bargaining, and case backlogs. (Kitchen, 2009)

Since 1994, New Mexico City had seen a drastic increase in their crime rates after the three strikes law was enacted in the state. The drastic increase in crime rate after the three strikes law was passed is one of the few reasons why New Mexico city to be known as a second hazardous nation in the United States. In New Mexico, the three strikes law is mainly only enforced for five specific strikes where the city police and court will be able to take an action against those repeat criminals for their crimes. Five specific strikes where the court or police can take action are Kidnapping, shooting, criminal sexual penetration, murder, and armed robbery. However, if there were more crimes were added to the New Mexico strikes then there would have been so many less crimes that would have taken place on the streets. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, “Prisoners in 2013” by E. Ann Carson, Ph.D., BJS Statistician shows that in Table 1 prisoners under the jurisdiction of state or federal correctional authorities by sex, December 31, 2012 and 2013, in New Mexico there were about 6,727 people who were arrested for committing serious crimes where there 6,096 male, and 631 female in 2012. Moreover, in 2013, in New Mexico there were about 6,849 prisoners who were arrested for committing crimes where there were 6,195 male and 654 female. This statistics shows that after the three strikes law was ratified, there was dramatically increased in the prison

In the United States there are four main goals when it comes to punishment which are retribution, deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). The main goals for these punishments are to maintain order over society and to prevent recidivism (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). This ties into the Ecology perspective. By maintaining order over society and preventing recidivism, it ties into all of the issues regarding the Ecology perspective which requires for each issue to address the individual, family, community and society. Maintaining order over society and preventing recidivism strives toward making a safer environment for the individual, family, community and society. There is no universal agreement for making the severity of punishment just or fair (DeJong, 2016, p. 288). When it comes to retribution the person who is getting punished deserves the punishment (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Retribution refers to when an individual commits a certain crime then that person must receive a punishment proportionate to that crime or suffering that they may have caused towards the victim (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Regarding deterrence there are two types, general deterrence and specific deterrence (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). General deterrence focuses on the society in general and wants to scare everyone away from committing crimes (DeJong, 2016, p. 289). Specific deterrence focuses on criminals that have already been convicted and wants to prevent them from