EDITORIAL : SENATORS ON STRIKE LIBERAL LAWMAKERS SNUB VOTERS' APPROVAL OF ``THREE STRIKES'' LAW.

A state legislative committee is showing just how far some public officials will go in opposing the will of the voters - and in being soft on crime, too.

As the Daily News reported Monday, Democrats who control the Senate Public Safety Committee are refusing to approve legislation to create tough new felony laws unless the affected crimes are exempt from the no-nonsense policy known as ``three strikes, you're out.''

State voters passed the ``three strikes'' law to provide for longer prison sentences for criminals who are repeatedly convicted of serious or violent crimes.

But some Democratic lawmakers flatly believe the voters were wrong and resist going along with the policy. Those legislators believe ``three strikes'' should not apply to nonviolent serious crimes.

Those self-appointed members of the ``we know best'' club cannot erase ``three strikes,'' but they a have found a way to gum up the system. Their committee is successfully blocking legislation for new laws under ``three strikes.''

For instance, some proposed new categories of felonies - such as tougher laws for habitual drunken driving, certain suspected sex offenders and perpetrators of domestic violence - have run into a brick wall in the committee.

As long as those Democrats continue their resistance, don't expect to see much legislation on some of the pressing issues affecting residents of this state. In the interim, the Public Safety Committee - which ought to be an incubator for timely anti-crime legislation - should change its name to the Criminal Protection Committee.

The committee chairman, Sen. John Vasconcellos, D-San Jose, says he believes nonviolent criminals should not be subjected to the ``three strikes'' maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

While he has a right to disagree with the policy, it's unfortunate that Vasconcellos has set himself up as judge, jury and executioner. The voters of California already have spoken loudly and clearly. They want a tougher policy against repeat criminals.

In addition, ``three strikes'' is not being applied blindly. Judges and prosecutors have increasing discretion in applying it in individual cases.

The Senate committee's head-in-the-sand attitude benefits criminals who now can be prosecuted for misdemeanors instead of felonies. That means they are sentenced to county jail instead of state prison, and many of them are released prematurely as a result of jail overcrowding.

Each month, about 29,000 inmates are released early from California jails - 7,000 who are awaiting trial and 22,000 before the completion of their sentence, according to a report from the state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst Office. Some jails report that sentenced inmates will serve less than 20 percent of their sentences because of overcrowding.

That bottleneck Senate committee isn't doing anything to help the logjam in the jails.