Justice
LONG BEACH PRESS-TELEGRAM / March 23, 1999 Wanting to feel safe again, I along with the majority of Californians supported the three strikes law that would send professional criminal predators to prison for at least 25 years. On the surface, it seems to be an overwhelming success. Crime in the last five years since three strikes was passed is down. Serious crimes in Bellflower are down by an impressive 36 percent. How much the reduction in crime is attributable to three strikes can be debated. Other factors that have most certainly contributed are: an almost doubling in law enforcement expenditures by our city, the expansion of our marvelously successful neighborhood watch program, and a short-term nationwide reduction in the number of people who are most likely to commit crimes, that being males between the ages of 16 to 24. Most people support putting away violent criminals for as long as possible. Unfortunately, that is not all the three strikes law is doing. Far too many people are going to prison for 25 years for possession of an illegal drug or other non-violent and non-serious crime. A third strike drug offender can serve three times as long in prison as a one-time murderer. Some counties, such as San Francisco, are not enforcing the three strikes law against non-violent and non-serious offenders while other counties such as Los Angeles do. The Justice Policy Institute concluded in a study that there is no difference in the crime rates between the counties that enforce three strikes against non-violent and non-serious offenders and those that do not. Definite problems have arisen from the implementation of 3 strikes. Faced with the possibility of spending the best years of their lives in prison, there is the threat that normally non-violent criminals will murder potential witnesses and law enforcement personnel to stay out of jail. When they are caught, they will not plea-bargain because the law does not allow leniency. Instead they fight as hard as they can, which clogs our court system, delaying other important cases from going to trial. If convicted, a third striker will cost over one-half million dollars to house him in prison for the next 25 years. The solution is to limit three strikes to violent and/or serious criminals. By doing so, our justice system can concentrate on protecting us from the people we need protection from, the professional criminal predators. Mayor Art
Olivier
"There are no violent gangs fighting over aspirin territories.
There are no violent gangs fighting over whisky territories or computer
territories or anything else that's legal. There are only criminal gangs
fighting over territories covering drugs, gambling, prostitution, and
other victimless crimes. Making a non-violent activity a crime creates a
black market, which attracts criminals and gangs, which turns what was
once a relatively harmless activity affecting a small group of people into
a widespread epidemic of drug use and gang
warfare."
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