5th March 2004
With the ten-year anniversary of the signing of California's "Three Strikes and You're Out" law approaching on March 7th, a new report shows that Three Strikes has contributed to California's chronic prison growth, that the law disproportionately impacts African Americans, Latinos and people convicted of non-violent offenses, and that the law has had little impact on crime. Still Striking Out, authored by researchers with the Washington, D.C.-based Justice Policy Institute, also shows that the law has cost the state billions of dollars more in criminal justice spending, and has impacted over 46,000 children of incarcerated people.
Still Striking Out: 10 Years of California's Three Strikes was researched and written by Scott Ehlers, Vincent Schiraldi and Jason Ziedenberg, and was published by the Justice Policy Institute, a Washington DC-based research and public policy organization. The full report is available online at their website.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.