Over twenty-seven years ago, a man was convicted of robbery. Just recently he began serving twenty-five years to life for having in his possession a forged license. Grandfather of four, Ronnie Villa, also serving a sentence of twenty-five years to life for stealing bottles of shampoo, had prior strikes over a decade ago. These are incidents of victims caught by the third strike law created and enforced by the California Department of Corrections. (Braz).
Less then half of the more then four thousand third strike prisoners in the state of California were convicted for crimes other then those against persons. Though California isn't the only state that has the three strikes law, it is the only state where it is not working. Statistics have shown that in states without the three-strike law, violent and serious crimes fell at a much faster rate then the states with the law. This shows that California needs to improve the existing law into a more effective way of ruling. (Braz, LAO).
Punishment for crimes has to be thought out and fair to everyone. Punishment for minor crimes shouldn't be the same for major and serious crimes. Murder shouldn't be given the same sentence as stealing a candy bar and vise versa. The three strikes law makes the punishment for stealing a candy bar in the same field for assault on a human being. The three strikes law today has to be re-written so that it can be presently suitable for each case and that the extremely harsh sentencing that comes with the penalty is given to criminals who truly deserve that type of punishment. The punishment should fit the crime and should be proper to the nature of the offense in which the more severe crimes get more severe punishment no matter how many times the offender has been convicted.
Is the amount of money that is spent each year on a convicted criminal worth the taxpayers" dollars? As more and more third strikers are convicted, the prisons become more and more occupied, which means more money coming from innocent people to house the victims and crowded cells.
