Sense and Nonsense about Crime and Drugs by Samuel Walker
Samuel Walker, author of Sense and Nonsense about Crime
and Drugs, presented us in his book with forty-eight
propositions that dealt with crime, drugs, and our efforts
toward getting rid of these problems. A few of these
propositions informed us on positive actions taking place in
our criminal justice system, but the majority of them told
us what was not working to fight crime and drugs. One of
those propositions that was a negative aspect of our justice
system today in Mr. Walker's eyes was the "three strikes and
you're out" laws (referred to here after as three strikes
laws). He gives numerous reasons why this law is not
considered to be an effective one. This paper will first
explain Walker's view on the issue and then review some of
the current research and opinions on the matter.
Samuel Walker conducted very thorough research on the
propositions he presented to us in his book. His twentieth
proposition read as follows; " 'Three strikes and you're
out' laws are a terrible crime policy" (Walker, 1998: 140).
Walker justifies his claim by asking and then explaining
three questions. The first question is whether the law
would actually be implemented. Walker states that "hardly
any states were using there three strikes laws" (Walker,
1998: 138). California is leading the nation in
prosecutions of offenders through the current two and three
strikes laws (Tischler, 1999). Fifteen of the twenty-three
states that have three strikes laws have incarcerated
between zero and six inmates since 1993 according to The
Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy (Tischler, 1999).
The second reason Walker cites is the impact of the
three strikes...
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Bibliography:
References
Burr, G., Wong, S., Veen, S. & Gu, D. (2000, June). Three
strikes and you're out: An investigation of false positive
rates using a Canadian sample. Federal Probation, 64,
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Martin, D. (1995, September 13). A view from the underworld:
Life after three strikes. Available: http://www.
pacificnews. org/jinn/stories/columns/voices/950913-
three-strikes.html
Schafer, J. (1999, April). The deterrent effect of three
strikes law. FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin, 68, 6-11.
Tischler, E. (1999, Feburary). Three strikes striking out?
Corrections Today, 61, 19.
Walker, S. (1998). Sense and nonsense about crime and drugs:
A policy guide. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Wood, D. (1999, March 8). The impact of 'three strikes'
laws. Christian Science Monitor, 91, 1-5.
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