 |
|
||||||
On November 2, 2004, the people of California will be asked to vote on Proposition 66, a measure that would seriously weaken California's highly effective Three Strikes law. California has the toughest Three Strikes law in the nation. Under the current law the first two strikes must be serious or violent felonies, but a third strike can be triggered by any felony. Predictably, the liberal media and their allies in academia have produced a spate of "horror" stories, alleging that felons have been sentenced to 25 years to life for stealing a slice of pizza, a bottle of vitamins, video tapes and other seemingly minor crimes. But what is not said is that in each of these "horror" stories the seemingly minor offense was the last in a long series of crimes. Every third striker has previously committed at least two serious or violent felonies. These criminals are usually recidivists with long criminal histories, hardly
the objects of compassion.
Claremont Institute Fellows Edward J. Erler and Brian P. Janiskee argue that the far-reaching changes in Proposition 66, if passed, will have serious ramifications for public safety.
Their new paper, "On the Road to a Safe and Secure California, Proposition 66 Is the Wrong Route," is available now in PDF format (requires Adobe Acrobat 5.0 or later). Click here to download.
Download Adobe Acrobat for PDF Files
