Three Strikes Policy in California Analytical Essay
Three Strikes Policy in California
An analysis of the impact of the Three Strikes Laws criminal sentencing policy in California.
# 149378
| 763 words
| 3 sources
| APA
| 2011
| 
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Description:
The paper discusses the problems of overwhelming prison overcrowding in California and the complaint that the legislation violates the Eighth Amendment right of inmates. The paper notes that the difference in California and other states with this legislative public policy is that California sentences felony offenders with no regard to the seriousness of their crime. The paper then discusses how the high court ruled that the inability to properly house inmates as well as provide for their physical, mental, and health needs has created an Eighth Amendment violation to the rights of California prisoners. The paper asserts that the legislation in California needs to be reformed to include only serious or violent offenders for the third strike offense as well as building enough prisons to house their large prison population.
From the Paper:
"One legislative-initiated policy that is currently creating challenges for the criminal justice system of California and many other states involves the development of the Three Strikes Laws sentencing policy. The Three Strikes Policy was implemented to stop the growing number of criminal offenders being released from prison only to immediately reoffend. This criminal justice policy emerged in Washington in 1992 followed by California in 1993 and by 2006 twenty five states had similar sentencing policies. The challenges being faced by states that have enacted this new criminal justice policy are overcrowding, lack of deterrent, and the Eighth Amendment violation."While not all states are suffering major challenges from the enactment of this sentencing policy this policy has been particularly detrimental to the California prison system. The original goal of the states in enacting this policy was to improve the safety of members of the public by permanently removing repeat offenders from the streets and to lower the crime rate. In a research study conducted by Justice Policy Institute shows there has been very little proof that the crime rates in states with the Three Strikes Laws have seen a crime reduction over the last ten years (Brown, 2005). In fact states without the Three Strike Laws have lower murder rates."
Sample of Sources Used:
- Brown, B. & Joliette, G. (2005). A Primer: Three Strikes - The Impact after More Than a Decade.Legislative Analyst Office. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.lao.ca.gov/2005/3_strikes/3_strikes_102005.htm
- McGreevy, P. (2011). U.S. Supreme Court orders Massive Inmate Release to Relieve California's Prisons.Los Angeles Times. Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/24/local/la-me-court-prisons-20110524
- Wilkie, D. (2003). Divided Court Upholds State's 3-strikes Law.San Diego Union-Tribune.Retrieved September 30, 2011 from http://www.threestrikes.org/sdiegotrib_0.html
Cite this Analytical Essay:
APA Format
Three Strikes Policy in California (2011, December 12)
Retrieved June 07, 2023, from https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/three-strikes-policy-in-california-149378/
MLA Format
"Three Strikes Policy in California" 12 December 2011.
Web. 07 June. 2023. <https://www.academon.com/analytical-essay/three-strikes-policy-in-california-149378/>