From Rough&Tumble
A federal
appeals court Thursday struck down two lengthy sentences imposed under California’s
three-strikes law, saying that a 25-year-to-life term for petty theft constituted
cruel and unusual punishment. Henry Weinstein
in the Los
Angeles Times Bob Egelko in the San
Francisco Chronicle John McDonald and
Aldrin Brown in the Orange
County Register — 2/8/02
With 340 people serving 25-to-life for petty theft, this a good and overdue ruling. As Bellicose Woman Kathy Kinsley points out, 3 stikes is a classic case of unintended consequences. Most voters probably thought this initiative only applied to violent offenses, but this not the case – some of these 340 stole pizzas or bicycles. Not stellar behavior, but “let the punishment fit the crime.”