Sense and Nonsense about Crime and Drugs by Samuel Walker

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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... ... middle of paper ... ..., 1-5. 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, 3-7. 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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