The Three Strikes Law in the USA - Essay Example

The Three Strikes Law enhances the prison sentences of individuals found guilty of a felony who has been formerly convicted of two or more serious felonies or brutal crimes (Helland 2). These crimes, hence, limit the capacity of these criminals to get a punishment other than a life sentence. Serious and violent felonies are exclusively listed in state regulations. Violent offenses comprise murder, burglary of a home in which a dangerous or deadly weapon is used, rape plus other sex offenses. Severe offenses comprise of the same offenses defined as violent offenses, but also take in other crimes such as burglary of a home and assault with an intention to commit a murder or robbery. This regulation also punishes habitual offenders (Walker 1).

The law of imposing longer jail sentences for habitual offenders than first-time offenders who commit a similar crime. This is because Judges also take into consideration previous offenses before sentencing. Nevertheless, there is a more up-to-date history of mandatory prison sentences for habitual offenders. For instance, New York has a law, Persistent Felony Offender, which dates back to the 19th century (Walker 2). Such sentences were, however, not obligatory in all cases, and judges had much more caution than before as to what term of imprisonment may be imposed.

The three-strikes law, however, works. Take a state like California for instance. Violent crimes, especially murder, have gone down in the Los Angeles area, plus other areas of the southland (Garvey 1). The homicide count in Los Angeles in the year 2010 was 297. This was less than a third of the 1992 homicides that were 1000 (Garvey 1). However, this might only be a correlation and not underlying, as violent crime has also gone down in other parts of California where the three-strikes rule is not obligatory. It should also be renowned that punishments for murder are exceptionally harsh. Murder results in tremendously long sentences, life sentences without the likelihood of parole, or even a death penalty (Garvey 1). Even though it is the first conviction, murder still overshadows any curb effect of the three-strikes law. Nevertheless, there is some proof that offenders on their last strike are more anxious to flee from a police officer and, therefore, more likely to attack the police officer. This does not show whether or not the offenders in question were or were not more anxious and keen to kill before their last strike. It, however, proves that the three-strike law works.

In conclusion, the main goal of this program is to ease crime cases since some people seem to be tied up in criminal activities and do not wish to stop even after several convictions.