Three strikes law - Essay Example

Three strikes law The ‘Three strikes law and Youre out Law’’ are statutes that were passed in the United s that gave courts from all states freedom to sentence law offenders who have convicted more than three criminal offenses (Lao.Ca.Gov, 2014). There are offenses that are considered serious like felony offenses, which include armed robbery, rape and sex offenses, and murder. The three strikes laws allow the courts to sentence any law offender to life sentence if he/she has previously committed three serious offenses.

The offenders are not supposed to be given any punishment but life sentence. The sentence is determined by the level of severity of the current, and previous crimes committed, and the sentence may lead to life sentence imprisonment. Remarkably, ‘the three strikes law’ are fair because it is the only way such crimes can be reduced. There are people who keep convicting the same offenses even if they were previously punished. Consequently, they should be practiced in all states. Moreover, ‘the three strikes laws’ are constitutional laws because the government passed them, and it is included in the constitution.

On the other hand, the laws have some effects both negative and positive. For example in California, homicide crimes have reduced tremendously (Rosales, 2009). However, the security officers are insecure because the offenders try all the best to escape the police. This leads to killing of police officers in turn. This is because the sentence is extremely harsh. The second negative effect is the cost of keeping these inmates is high, which is approximated to $46100 dollars a year making it expensive.

In addition, there are also social and economic costs associated with the three strikes law (Walsh, 2007). Most people associated with most of the strikers are black American are the making it ethnical because they only make 3% of the population in the country. The other effect is that powers of judges have been reduced because public must be consulted during such judgment. In conclusion, the three strikes laws have both negative and positive influences in various parts of the United States. Remarkably, the laws have led to the reduction of the number of felony crimes especially in the California where a number of criminal offenses reported.

Reference Rosales, J. K. (2009). Californias Three Strikes Law: A policy analysis. Lao.Ca.Gov (2014). The three strikes and youre out law. [online] Retrieved from: http://www.lao.ca.gov/analysis_1995/3strikes.html [Accessed: 22 Jan 2014]. Walsh, J. E. (2007). Three strikes laws. Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press.