An Answer to the Question: California’s 3 Strikes Law, Amend It NOW!!!?

I thought I’d post this question from Rachel B since a lot of people seem to be asking it lately:
California really took voters for a ride with this one. They promised that sex offenders, rapists, murderers, child molesters would fall under this category, but instead, they have small time robbers and drug users encarcerated when they should really be in rehab while Megan’s Law gets longer and longer. Tell me my fellow Americans, what are your views on this?

Answer: Wow. I expected to see a lot more in support of your proposition here, and it’s surprising (though gratifying) to see that’s not the case.I have no problem at all with strikes one and two. Strikes are not handed out like candy. They are *generally* based on violent felonies, not things like jaywalking. In fact, twenty-four listed here:http://www.silicon-valley.com/star4.htmlAre for particularly violent felonies. The remaining four are for drug offenses (one of those is for giving controlled substances like heroin and meth to a juvenile) and theft of a firearm (gee, wonder what they might do with that firearm?).Then there’s the nineteen additional crimes listed here:http://www.silicon-valley.com/star5.htmlAll of which are seriously violent felonies. So far, I would hope that everyone would agree these are people that earn their strikes.The thing I object to is the third strike. It, I’m told, can be for *any* felony. This is the shoplifter or the bad check writer who goes ...

Source: Addiction Recovery Blog - May 10, 2013 Category: Addiction Authors: Addiction Recovery Author Tags: Heroin Treatment Source Type: blogs