The following letters were sent on 3-strikes measures in 1997-8:

*************************************

Friends Committee on Legislation
717 K St., Suite 500-B,
Sacramento, CA 95814-3406
(916) 443-3734

 

June 25, 1998

Don Perata, Chair
Assembly Committee on Public Safety
State Capitol, Sacramento, CA

Re: Senate Bill 2048 (Vasconcellos) Support

Dear Chairman Perata:

The Friends Committee on Legislation supports SB 2048, which directs the Legislative Analyst to evaluate the mandatory "three-strikes" sentencing legislation enacted in 1994.

Since enactment, over 30,000 people have been incarcerated by its requirements at great cost to the State. The number is expected to grow to 55,000 in the next four years. A significant proportion of these inmates will reach the "burnout" stage, when serious offenses are unlikely to occur long before they are eligible for parole. This suggests that the costs and benefits of such long term incarceration need careful evaluation.

Questions have also been raised about its crime-control effects. Studies show states without such laws reporting greater reductions in crime rates than states with them. Other studies claim that a part of the recent reduction in crime is attributable to its mandatory sentences. The Legislature and the public need a review of the available information to evaluate these claims.

A variety of charging practices have developed in the 58 counties under the law. In some counties prior strikes are seldom alleged unless the third strike is serious or violent. Other counties have a policy of alleging all possible prior offenses. As a result, second and third strikers go to prison in numbers that are not reflective of each county's general prison commitment patterns. We are told that serious, sophisticated offenders are incarcerated under the law for shorter periods than less serious offenders, and these claims need to be evaluated.

Selective enforcement of the criminal law is an ever-present risk, and the risks become more significant when a life sentence can result from a non-violent offense. Recent studies by the Judicial council point out how proceedings sometimes reflect the biases and prejudices of the larger society. Although prosecutors have formed internal review procedures to reduce the chances that the law is applied selectively, some panels conducting these reviews have little or no minority representation.

Yours very truly,

STEVE BIRDLEBOUGH

cc: Senator Vasconcellos

******************** NOTE: The following communication was sent
prior to Senate floor amendments to SB 2048:
********************

FRIENDS COMMITTEE ON LEGISLATION OF CALIFORNIA
926 J Street #707 - Sacramento - California 95814-2707 - (916) 443-3734

April 10, 1998

John Vasconcellos, Chair,
Senate Public Safety Committee
State Capitol, Sacramento

Re: SB 2048 (Vasconcellos) Support

Dear Senator Vasconcellos:

The Friends Committee on Legislation supports SB 2048 which will prevent about 500 non-violent offenders from automatically going to prison on 25 year-to-life sentences every year. California has now had four years of experience with inflexible sentencing under its "Three Strikes" law. It is time to enact common-sense reform.

At present, the law contributes to prison overcrowding by inmates who could either be in county jails, or in state prison for shorter terms. It is clear that lengthy sentences which cost the taxpayer over $500,000 per inmate are inappropriate for offenses such as failing to appear in a drunk driving case, or shoplifting a pair of socks. Yet some 2,400 people have been sentenced to state prison for non-violent third strike offenses. As a result, this year the state is committed to spend nearly $60 million extra by this inflexible law. The cost is projected to rise about $10 million per year for the next 22 years, or until the law is changed. The fact that crime rates are falling more quickly in states without a ‘Three Strikes' law, indicates that virtually all of this money could be better spent on programs that really prevent violence.

The hidden costs are even higher than the state budgetary costs. Few individuals are made better by their prison experience, and many emerge from long terms of imprisonment with deficits in their social and job skills which prevent them from realizing their full potential as contributing and tax-paying citizens. Meanwhile, their families are traumatized, and prison staff struggle with the added stress of overcrowded institutions.

It is not enough just to be tough on crime. The law must reasonably focus the most costly remedies on truly serious offenders. While SB 2048 leaves the costly three-strikes structure intact, particularly as to second strike offenders, it is certainly a step toward better use of criminal justice resources. .

Yours very truly,

STEVE BIRDLEBOUGH