Реферат: Stike Out Three Strikes Essay Research Paper

going to our prison system. This means that either spending in other areas will be cut or

an increase of taxes. Neither of which is highly favored by voters. On a national level the

Justice Departments budget has increased an alarming 162% since 1987(Cost 2). The

money that is being spent incarcerating these people can be more well spent in other areas.

The money can be spent on crime prevention and rehabilitation, rather than retribution.

Before the three strikes law was enacted it had been estimated that to keep up with the

growing prison population on a national level that it was necessary to spend $100,000,000

per week on our prison system(Ogutu). Now that we will be having more and more

criminals behind bars we shall have to spend even more money building and keeping up

our overcrowded prisons. Of these people that taxpayers are paying to imprison Mauer

suggests that as many as 80% will be non-violent offenders. So far 80% of the second and

third strike offenses have been for non-violent crimes, most of these being drug

offenses(23). There have only been only 53 people with second and third strike

convictions for rape, murder, and kidnapping(Carter 1). This law’s lack of effectiveness

clearly does not warrant its huge price.

The other aspect to consider in the implementation of the three strikes legislation is

its effect on non-violent offenders. These are the people hardest hit by this law. It is

difficult see how society can justify sending a drug addict to prison for 25 years at a cost

of $20,000 per year when the money could be used to fund drug rehabilitation centers and

alternative programs for our youth. Most drug users are not in need prison, they are in

need of help for their addictions. If a fraction of the money it would cost to imprison them

is put toward drug rehabilitation programs it would save the state money, while at the

same time helping the individual. The three strikes legislation is directly aimed at violent

crime, but its track record has shown that it has missed the mark by a long shot. Some

offenders have been convicted for a third strike on relatively small offenses. For example,

a man named Steven Gordon was convicted for his third strike after stealing a wallet that

had $100 dollars in it. His previous offenses had all been non-violent, yet he was

convicted under our three strikes law(Franklin 26). This is not an isolated incident either.

Franklin cites numerous examples of cases where people were convicted under this