Three strikes and you're in for life: stealing so much as a slice of pizza can mean life in prison under a controversial law. Is it fair? The Supreme Court will decide.Slipping the three golf clubs down his pants leg was the easy part. The hard part was walking out of the golf shop with the $1,200 worth of hidden merchandise, and there Gary A. Ewing failed. A clerk noticed Ewing limping out and dialed 911. When the police spotted him in a nearby parking lot, Ewing was still limping. Shoplifting Ask a Lawyer Question Country: United States of America State: Florida caught shoplifting at sears 12/05/05, first time, 20yearsold, have no criminal record. is generally considered a minor crime, a misdemeanor, punishable by no more than a year in jail. But Ewing had prior convictions for burglary and robbery, serious crimes known as felonies. Under California's "three strikes and you're out" law, prosecutors upgraded Ewing's case to a felony--and a third felony felony (fĕl`ənē), any grave crime, in contrast to a misdemeanor, that is so declared in statute or was so considered in common law. conviction automatically carries a sentence of 25 years to life. Ewing was packed off to prison. A life sentence for shoplifting? Attorneys for Ewing and another three-strikes inmate INMATE. One who dwells in a part of another's house, the latter dwelling, at the same time, in the said house. Kitch. 45, b; Com. Dig. Justices of the Peace, B 85; 1 B. & Cr. 578; 8 E. C. L. R. 153; 2 Dowl. & Ry. 743; 8 B. & Cr. 71; 15 E. C. L. R. 154; 2 Man. & Ry. 227; 9 B. & Cr. in California have appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing that the three-strikes law violates the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which outlaws "cruel and unusual punishments Such punishment as would amount to torture or barbarity, any cruel and degrading punishment not known to the Common Law, or any fine, penalty, confinement, or treatment that is so disproportionate to the offense as to shock the moral sense of the community. ." DOING TIME FOR VIDEO THEFT The high-profile case has reopened a national debate over what is fair punishment for crimes, just as the U.S. crime rate, after dropping steeply through much of the 1990s, began inching up again last year. Supporters of the three-strikes law say the lengthy sentences target so-called habitual offenders In legal parlance of a number of countries, an habitual offender has been defined as one who repeatedly commits the same crime. The legal provisions may impose specific penalty on a legal offender, for example, a driver found to be driving repeatedly in a drunken state may be , getting them off the streets and making communities safer. During oral arguments on the case at the Supreme Court, Justice Antonin Scalia said that Ewing "is precisely the kind of person you want to get off the streets. He's going to do it again." But critics argue that sending thousands of petty criminals to prison for decades does little to reduce serious crime, while jamming the prisons and costing taxpayers millions. They point to the case of the other prisoner in the Supreme Court case, Leandro Andrade. Because he had two previous burglary convictions, Andrade was sentenced to 50 years to life for stealing $153.54 worth of videos from two Kmarts. (Among the titles he chose: Free Willy willy Noun pl -lies Brit, Austral & NZ informal a childish or jocular word for penis 2, Cinderella, and Little Women.) In another noted case, Jerry Dewayne Williams Jerry Dewayne Williams is a convicted felon, most famous for initially receiving a 25 years to life prison sentence in March 1995, for the theft of a slice of pepperoni pizza from a group of children, though he was released in 1998. was sentenced to 25 years to life for stealing a slice of pepperoni pizza. Though the sentence was later reduced to six years, many saw the case as proof that the law was misguided. "This strikes many people as inherently unfair," says Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project The Sentencing Project, based in Washington, D.C., promotes "more effective and humane" alternatives to prison for criminal offenders. It has produced several influential reports on inequalities in the U.S. penal system, including the disenfranchisement of prisoners. , a Washington-based group that advocates alternatives to imprisonment Alternatives to imprisonment might be understood on several levels: One way to sketch the range of alternatives people have developed for responding to violence is to divide it by shorter-term and longer-term strategies. . "It's lumping together pizza thieves and serial rapists." During the mid 1990s, at the tail end of a long crime wave, 23 states adopted three-strikes laws. But in most of those states, the statutes are rarely used and few prisoners are jailed under their provisions. California is different. It alone does not require the third strike to be a violent or even serious crime. California's three-strikes law was adopted by referendum in a wave of public outrage after the 1993 murder of Polly Klaas Polly Hannah Klaas (January 3, 1981 - October-November 1993) was an American murder victim whose case gained national attention. At the age of 12, she was kidnapped at knifepoint from her mother's home in Petaluma, California on October 1, 1993. She was later raped and strangled. , a 12-year-old who was abducted abducted Distal angulation of an extremity away from the midline of the body in a transverse plane and away from a sagittal plane passing through the proximal aspect of the foot or part, or away from some other specified reference point from a slumber party in her home by a twice-convicted kidnapper out on parole parole (pərōl`), in criminal law, release from prison of a convict before the expiration of his term on condition that his activities be restricted and that he report regularly to an officer. . THROWING AWAY THE KEY California judges have used the statute frequently, sentencing more than 7,500 people under its terms. Another 31,900 defendants have seen their sentences doubled under the law's provision for second-strike crimes. Backers of the three-strikes law argue that prosecutors and judges apply it only when the crime involves a career criminal who will likely harm society again. But more than 2,200 of those serving three-strikes sentences--about 29 percent--committed property crimes, like burglary, theft, and forgery forgery, in art forgery, in art, the false claim to authenticity for a work of art. The Nature of Forgery Because the provenance of works of art is seldom clear and because their origin is often judged by means of subtle factors, art . "The opponents of three-strikes would have us wait until the habitual Regular or customary; usual. A habitual drunkard, for example, is an individual who regularly becomes intoxicated as opposed to a person who drinks infrequently. felon An individual who commits a crime of a serious nature, such as Burglary or murder. A person who commits a felony. felon n. a person who has been convicted of a felony, which is a crime punishable by death or a term in state or federal prison. causes another victim," says Lawrence Brown Lawrence Brown (1907-September 5, 1988) was a jazz trombonist from Kansas. He began his career with Charlie Echols and Paul Howard. In 1932 he joined Duke Ellington. , executive director of the California District Attorney's Association. "We do not want to have to wait. This is not a sympathetic bunch of criminals covered under the three-strikes law." Brown says three-strikes has led to a 40 percent drop in California's crime since the law took effect in 1994--a decrease significantly greater than the national average for that period. But criminologists question such assertions, pointing out that crime plummeted nationally during the 1990s, and in some states with no three-strikes law at about the same rate as in California. In New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , for example, where there is no three-strikes law, violent crime also dropped by 40 percent during the same period. Opponents of three-strikes attribute the drop in crime to a decrease in the number of young people--who tend to commit crimes at higher rates than older people--and to the superheated su·per·heat tr.v. su·per·heat·ed, su·per·heat·ing, su·per·heats 1. To heat excessively; overheat. 2. economy in the 1990s, which put many to work who might have turned to crime out of economic desperation. They say that the latest rise in crime reflects the troubled U.S. economy, with unemployment that remains stuck at about 6 percent. Preliminary figures for the first six months of 2002 released by the FBI showed a 1.3 percent jump in overall crime, and steeper increases of 2.3 percent for murders, and 4.2 percent for burglaries and auto thefts. NEW GOAL: INCAPACITATION in·ca·pac·i·tate tr.v. in·ca·pac·i·tat·ed, in·ca·pac·i·tat·ing, in·ca·pac·i·tates 1. To deprive of strength or ability; disable. 2. To make legally ineligible; disqualify. Donald E. DeNicola, a deputy attorney general for California, told the Supreme Court that the three-strikes law reflected the state's choice to move from a theory of punishment in which the goal was rehabilitating offenders, to one in which the chief goal was their "incapacitation." Advocates of three-strikes say most of those incarcerated incarcerated /in·car·cer·at·ed/ (in-kahr´ser-at?ed) imprisoned; constricted; subjected to incarceration. in·car·cer·at·ed adj. Confined or trapped, as a hernia. under the law are beyond rehabilitation rehabilitation: see physical therapy. . But incapacitation comes at a price: It costs the State of California about $27,000 a year to house the average prisoner. Opponents argue that the money spent on jailing someone for 25 years--$675,000 at the present rate--could be better used for juvenile programs, drug rehabilitation This article is about the process of rehabilitation for substance dependency. For other uses, see Rehab (disambiguation). For other kinds of rehabilitation, see Rehabilitation. For the American rap-rock group, see Rehab (band). , and community policing. With California facing a record-breaking $35 billion budget deficit this year, critics say the cost of maintaining the three-strikes prison population is going to lead to severe reductions in other services. "They are cutting so much for senior care, and not cutting prison budgets for these non-violent crimes," says Barbara Ellis, chairwoman of Families to Amend California Three Strikes, a group that seeks to have only violent criminals sentenced under the three-strikes law. TIME TO SAY "ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"? No one is willing to bet how the Supreme Court will rule, but during oral arguments, several Justices seemed to have little sympathy for the prisoners. Considering Ewing's prior criminal record, Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist said: "Why can't California decide that enough is enough, that someone with a long string like that simply deserves to be put away?" That's tough for the families of prisoners, for whom a three-strike conviction changes everything. Robert Bernard, 15, remembers hanging out with his uncle, Robert Ellis Robert Ellis is the name of: Historical Persons
But the underlying issue before the Supreme Court is whether three-strikes sentences are so out of proportion to some crimes that they violate the Constitution. "This still remains shoplifting three golf clubs," Ewing's lawyer, Quin Denvir, told the Justices, arguing that the punishment should focus not on past crimes, but on the one at hand. "That's the crime he's being punished for." THREE-STRIKES LAWS: THE DEBATE > NATIONAL Should Three Crimes Mandate Life in Prison for Criminals--Even If the Crimes Are Petty? DISCUSSION QUESTIONS * Do you support harsh sentences for those convicted three times? * What alternative to the three-strikes policy can you suggest? * Why do you think the Founding Fathers banned "cruel and unusual punishments"? TEACHING OBJECTIVES To help students understand the merits of both sides in the debate over three-strikes sentencing--and to help them recognize the relationship of the Eighth Amendment to the debate. CLASSROOM STRATEGIES BEFORE READING: Make copies of the Eighth Amendment to the Constitution and distribute them to students. Ask students how they would define "cruel and unusual punishments." CRITICAL THINKING/DEBATE: Direct attention to the first case, that of Gary Ewing Garrison Arthur "Gary" Ewing, was a character in the American television series Knots Landing and also in the television series Dallas. The character of Gary Ewing was played most notably by Ted Shackelford (1979-1993) and briefly played by David Ackroyd . Ask students to take sides on this question: Ewing's golf-club theft was not a felony. But because he had two felonies on his record, he received a long-term sentence. Should the three-strikes law come into play only when someone commits a third felony? DISCUSSION: Direct attention to the comment of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Ask students two questions: What do they think motivated Scalia to say that Ewing is going to continue to commit crimes? Next, review the argument made by Lawrence Brown, of the California District Attorney's Association: "We do not want to have to wait [until felons cause another victim]. Do citizens, through their legislators, have a right to put convicted criminals in jail for long periods of time because they appear likely to commit additional crimes in the future? Next, turn to the split between those who support three-strikes laws and those who oppose them. Ask students why they think the two sides have such different views of the effectiveness of these laws. Is it possible that some people on each side are using the available data to support their pre-existing views of criminals and the criminal justice system? Is is possible that people on both sides of the issue are partially correct? Is there room for compromise, with some three-time defendants deserving harsh sentences and others not? Follow up on this point. If students were judges, which criteria would they employ when deciding whether someone who is convicted three times deserves harsh punishment? Should the nature of the crimes be the sole determinant determinant, a polynomial expression that is inherent in the entries of a square matrix. The size n of the square matrix, as determined from the number of entries in any row or column, is called the order of the determinant. ? Upfront QUIZ 1 FILL IN THE BLANK > NATIONAL > PAGES 8-11 DIRECTIONS: Write the correct answer on the fine provided. 1. The three-strikes law kicked in for Gary Ewing because he had already been found guilty of two other--, the most serious type of crime. 2. The harshest penalty for those who are convicted under California's three-strikes law is a sentence of 25 or 50 years to--in prison. 3. In one famous three-strikes case, Jerry Dewayne Williams was sentenced to prison for 25 years to life for stealing some fast food, specifically--. 4. The three-strikes law is "inherently unfair," says Marc Mauer, assistant director of the Sentencing Project, a Washington-based group that advocates --to imprisonment Imprisonment See also Isolation. Alcatraz Island former federal maximum security penitentiary, near San Francisco; “escapeproof.” [Am. Hist.: Flexner, 218] Altmark, the German prison ship in World War II. [Br. Hist. . 5. California's three-strikes law was passed in the wake of the--of a young girl who had been abducted from her home by a criminal who had two previous kidnapping kidnapping, in law, the taking away of a person by force, threat, or deceit, with intent to cause him to be detained against his will. Kidnapping may be done for ransom or for political or other purposes. convictions and was out on parole. 6. Nearly 30 percent of those serving three-strikes sentences are in prison for having committed--crimes, not for violent crime. 7. Criminologists say the drop in California's crime rate since the three-strikes law is not necessarily because of the law. They note that the--rate was reduced nationally in the 1990s, in California and in states without the three-strikes law. 8. Opponents of the three-strikes law say crime rates fell not because of the law, but because of a decrease in the number of-- --, who tend to commit more crime than the general population. (two words) 9. Other opponents of the three-strikes law argue that --, which remains stuck at about 6 percent, is to blame for a recent increase in crime. 10. Critics say maintaining the three-strikes law in the face of California's huge-- --will lead to severe reductions in other services. (two words) ANSWER KEY 1. felonies 2. life 3. pizza 4. alternatives 5. murder/killing 6. property 7. crime 8. young people 9. unemployment 10. budget deficit |
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