3 strikes
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 submissio
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. 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. Maximum allowable time off for good behavior is reduced to 20 percent. There is a lot of talk about serious and violent felonies in the law and there are certain offenses that must be met in order to qualify as a serious or violent felony. The felonies that would fall under both categories would be those that are beyond misdemeanors and/or carry an extensive sentence. Triple the sentence or twenty-five years to life, whichever is greater, for any combination of two prior violent or serious felony convictions coupled with any new felony. The men had two Republican and two Democratic votes in their favor and only needed one more vote to pass, but unfortunately they did not get that one vote because Brown set up the committee and didn't want a tough-on-crime bill. Berkeley Assemblyman John Burton gave Jones an option to re-write their proposal the way he sees fit, or have the proposal taken from the floor again and put to another vote. The problem with the latter was that if it failed again there would never be another next time. Jones and Mike Reynolds did neither of the two, their mission now was to take it straight to the people of the state and find out what they think.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Liberties Union, Criminal Justice, Ray Appleton, Officers Association, Law Essay, Bill Jones, Kimber Reynolds, Francisco Brown, Willie Brown, Appleton KMJ, serious violent, violent felony, serious violent felony, strikes law, crime rate, prison population, felony convictions, law enforcement officers, ray appleton, bill jones, prior conviction, conviction serious, brown power choose, prior conviction serious, enactment strikes law,
Approximate Word count = 1665
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)
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