The California Three Strikes Law has contributed to the increase in prison population. The increased prison population has become so bad that the state was ordered by the Supreme Court to release prisoners to avoid a violation of the Constitution for cruel and unusual punishment in reference to overcrowding their prisons. A result of the California Three Strikes Law and the ideology of mass imprisonment subsequently led to the incarceration of non-violent less-serious offenders that were prosecuted primarily on possession charges.
Mandatory sentencing laws and policies provide little to no discretion in regards to enforcement. The California Three Strikes Law is an example of a mandatory sentencing policy. The law states that a person who commits a serious felony after two or more “strikes” will be sentenced to minimum of twenty-five years to life in prison. The “seriousness” of the felony is a new consideration that was implemented in 2012 (Couzens & Bigelow, 2012, "California's Three Strikes Sentencing Law"). Prior to the amendment, the law was applicable to ANY felony offense that was considered a third “strike.” This law has lead to the subsequent influx of non-violent prisoners that have engulfed the California prison system. As depicted in the chart below, the California Three Strikes Law has been used …show more content…
The reasoning for the California Three Strikes law was because of an increase in crime committed by violent felons that were released from prison. The law was designed, in theory, to prevent the early release of “career criminals” by imposing mandatory minimum sentencing for the repeat offenders. As represented in the graph above, the law has had a larger effect on non-violent and non-serious criminals (Brown & Jolivette, 2005, "A Primer: Three Strikes - The Impact After More Than a
Mandatory sentencing laws and policies provide little to no discretion in regards to enforcement. The California Three Strikes Law is an example of a mandatory sentencing policy. The law states that a person who commits a serious felony after two or more “strikes” will be sentenced to minimum of twenty-five years to life in prison. The “seriousness” of the felony is a new consideration that was implemented in 2012 (Couzens & Bigelow, 2012, "California's Three Strikes Sentencing Law"). Prior to the amendment, the law was applicable to ANY felony offense that was considered a third “strike.” This law has lead to the subsequent influx of non-violent prisoners that have engulfed the California prison system. As depicted in the chart below, the California Three Strikes Law has been used …show more content…
The reasoning for the California Three Strikes law was because of an increase in crime committed by violent felons that were released from prison. The law was designed, in theory, to prevent the early release of “career criminals” by imposing mandatory minimum sentencing for the repeat offenders. As represented in the graph above, the law has had a larger effect on non-violent and non-serious criminals (Brown & Jolivette, 2005, "A Primer: Three Strikes - The Impact After More Than a