Habitual offender laws or as it is known the three strikes law is hated by most people and even ex-president Bill Clinton regrets signing this law. This law is more complex than simple. Each state has its own version of this law with California being the strictest by implementing this law on criminals with non-violent felonies (Kieso). The effectivity of three strikes law has being question thousands of times because this law has the chance to ruins people’s lives who could had changed their paths; however, it can also lock up those who will never change. Like every law, the three strikes law is not perfect and it might lead to extreme results like in the case of Persistent Phellon. There is evidence that these laws work in some cases
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Phellon, I would follow the law and sentenced her to 6 years in prison. Mrs. Phellon committed a felony; therefore, must serve her time for it. If there is enough evidence (testimonies, videos, confession, etc.…) to proof that she committed a felony then she will be punished like any other criminal under the three strikes law. Being lenient with one person would not be fair to the other people in similar cases which will cause the judge to have to be lenient with other criminals. When she hit the peace officer it was committing a violent felony which she had full mental capacity and knowledge of hitting a city employee. This …show more content…
If the offender was not diagnosed by a professional then it cannot be proven that she is suffering from bipolar disorder or how severe her disorder is. Anyone can say that they suffer from mental illnesses in order to not serve their sentence. Even if she truly suffered from bipolar disorder, she could take medication. The fact that she did not take the proper medication for her condition makes her responsible for her actions because people with bipolar disorder are at constant mental meltdowns or anger episodes; therefore, she could had easily chosen to take the proper medication for her illness. There are multiple type of treatments for a person with mental disorder that could use to manage the illness: for example, mood stabilizers, Electroconvulsive therapy and meditation (NAMI). Not all treatments are expensive thus she had no excuse to not get herself treated. Since she received government aid, Section 8 (housing) and government disability check, she could had easily ask for help with her bipolar disorder. Her reckless choice shows that she was being irresponsible and fully liable to face full force of the law.
In the past charges filed against her, she fail to mention that she suffer from bipolar disorder. This is big evidence since people with bipolar disorder do not acquire
Phellon, I would follow the law and sentenced her to 6 years in prison. Mrs. Phellon committed a felony; therefore, must serve her time for it. If there is enough evidence (testimonies, videos, confession, etc.…) to proof that she committed a felony then she will be punished like any other criminal under the three strikes law. Being lenient with one person would not be fair to the other people in similar cases which will cause the judge to have to be lenient with other criminals. When she hit the peace officer it was committing a violent felony which she had full mental capacity and knowledge of hitting a city employee. This …show more content…
If the offender was not diagnosed by a professional then it cannot be proven that she is suffering from bipolar disorder or how severe her disorder is. Anyone can say that they suffer from mental illnesses in order to not serve their sentence. Even if she truly suffered from bipolar disorder, she could take medication. The fact that she did not take the proper medication for her condition makes her responsible for her actions because people with bipolar disorder are at constant mental meltdowns or anger episodes; therefore, she could had easily chosen to take the proper medication for her illness. There are multiple type of treatments for a person with mental disorder that could use to manage the illness: for example, mood stabilizers, Electroconvulsive therapy and meditation (NAMI). Not all treatments are expensive thus she had no excuse to not get herself treated. Since she received government aid, Section 8 (housing) and government disability check, she could had easily ask for help with her bipolar disorder. Her reckless choice shows that she was being irresponsible and fully liable to face full force of the law.
In the past charges filed against her, she fail to mention that she suffer from bipolar disorder. This is big evidence since people with bipolar disorder do not acquire