Three Strikes And Youre Out Law

Three Strikes You're Out Law

We have all heard of the newest anti-crime law, the "Three strikes

and you’re out" law. It wasn’t easy getting this law from the bill stage

in Sacramento to the law stage, because it is not a criminal friendly

law. Meaning that this law’s purpose is to bring pain, suffering, and

intimidation to criminals. Our state government was basically ran by

the Assembly Speaker Willie Brown, now mayor of San Francisco.

Brown had the power to choose who sat on what committee in the

house, and using this he could terminate any bill he did not agree

with. And with this attitude it took a lot of patients and perseverance

by the people trying to pass this bill. But how did the bill become a

bill? I will answer this question with help of the Kimber Reynolds

story.

Monday, June 29, 1992 in Fresno, California a young woman was

brutally murdered outside The Daily Planet, a restaurant patronized by

the local young people. The girl was visiting home for the summer

after being in the Los Angeles area attending school. Her and a friend

were getting into their car when two guys on a motorcycle rode up

next to Kimber Reynolds blocking her in, taking her purse, and beating

her into submission. The story made the 11 o’clock news only minutes

after her father had gone to bed. When police ran a background check

on the two suspected men, Joeseph Micheal Davis and Douglas

Walker, both men had recently been released on parole with multiple

offenses on their records. Unfortunately Davis was never brought in

because when police were attempting to arrest him he began firing,

wounding unsuspecting police officers and ultimately being killed.

Douglas Walker was convicted of accessory to murder.

Mike Reynolds, Kimber’s father, went on the radio on a local radio

show called the Ray Appleton Show, KMJ 580. There he would discuss

his outrage about how he was sick of repeat offenders being locked up

only to be released after a fraction of the sentence was completed. He

swore to the people listening that he was going to do something

about the problem, even if it takes him forever. Listening to that show

was Fresno Assemblyman Bill Jones (R). He was interested in the

issue and arranged a meeting with Mike. They discussed ideas about

how they could solve this problem.

With that in mind Mike used some connections and g...

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...victions.

There were repeated warnings about the cost to implement the new law,

but few have addressed the other side of the equation and the savings to

the state, in lives and in dollars. Had our 1993 crime rate continued

unaffected over these past few years, nearly 815,000 additional crimes

would have been committed in California, including 217,000+ violent

crimes. We would have suffered more than 4,000 homicide victims;

6000+ women would have been victims of rape. Also the savings in

dollars is between $5.8 billion and $15.5 billion since the enactment of

the "Three Strikes" law.

There has been swift and dramatic impact on crime since the enactment of

the "Three Strikes" law. The crime rate has dropped more than 30%. But

there are other factors that play a part in this reduction like crime

prevention, and community policing. However there has been a significant

drop in the crime rate. Also the predictions about cost, over populating

and others have not come true. With all of the opposition out there trying

to tear this law down I believe that California can not afford to do without

this law because it is saving our state money and lives.