Three strikes

Three strikes laws are a category of statutes enacted by state governments in the United States, beginning in the 1990s, to mandate long periods of imprisonment for persons convicted of a felony on three (or more) separate occasions. The term is borrowed from baseball - until recently the most popular spectator sport in the United States - and is generally colloquial in its usage, as such statutes are most often known officially as mandatory sentencing laws or some variant thereof.

 The underlying philosophy of these laws is that any person who commits more than two felonies can justifiably be considered incorrigible and chronically criminal, and that permanent imprisonment is then mandated for the safety of society.

While the practice of imposing longer prison sentences on repeat offenders than on first-time offenders who commit the same crime is nothing new in American states (New York State, for example, has a Persistent Felony Offender law that dates back to the late 19th Century), such sentences were not compulsory in every single case, and judges had much discretion in what term of incarceration to impose. The first true "three strikes" law, with virtually no exceptions provided, was not enacted until 1993, when Washington state passed such a law. followed one year later (the law being approved by referendum in that state) and the concept swiftly spread to other states: By 2004, 26 states and the federal government had laws that satisfy the general criteria for designation as "three strikes" statutes - namely, that a third felony conviction brings a sentence of life in prison, with no parole possible until a long period of time, most commonly 25 years, has been served.

 The exact application of the three-strikes laws varies considerably from state to state. Some states require all three felony convictions to be for violent crimes in order for the mandatory sentence to be pronounced, while others - most notably - mandate the enhanced sentence for any third felony conviction so long as the first two felonies were deemed to be either "violent" or "serious," or both. Some unusual scenarios have arisen - particularly in , which punishes shoplifting and similar crimes as felony petty theft if the person committing such a crime has a prior conviction for any form of stealing, including robbery or burglary, no matter how long ago the original crime had been committed. This has led to some defendants being sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for stealing such items as compact discs or even slices of pizza, prompting harsh criticism not only within the United States, but also from outside the country as well. Several challenges to this aspect of the law were pending, in both state and federal courts, as of the spring of 2004.

 In addition to the aforementioned situation, another principal criticism of these laws is that many felonies involve only a minimal threat to society. In some states, possession of a small amount of crack cocaine or even marijuana may be treated as a felony, so three such convictions would carry permanent imprisonment. There are many other felonies which call into question the advisability of strict three-strikes laws, such as some minor white-collar crimes which only marginally qualify as felonies. Often a burglary, a crime which could result in the theft of something having little or no value, is perceived as being unjustly included as one of the three "strikes."

 Some have also argued that these laws can provide criminals with a perverse incentive to commit murder. If a certain person already has two felony convictions, then a conviction for any third felony (such as grand theft) may carry a penalty comparable to that for a murder conviction. If by killing a witness to a crime, a criminal may reduce his or her chances of being apprehended, then under a three-strikes law he or she has no incentive not to commit the murder.

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