Every country or state has a set of rules and regulations that act as a guide for deciding what is right or wrong. Some actions, however, are a quagmire as they can either be right or wrong depending on the situation at hand. The morality/ ethical nature of other actions also depends on an individual’s point of view. For example, most countries have no rules to govern the circumcision of young boys, and this has become a source of massive debates between the citizens who support it and those that are against it. One common thing, however, is that in all the countries of the world, going against any of the stipulated constitutional laws usually results in penalties for those who violate these laws and the body that concerns itself with the task of bringing these individuals to justice are the judiciary; through the court’s system (Kenneth, 2011).
Since every country is unique, the judicial and consequently the penal system varies from one state to the other; with some judicial laws being quite unorthodox if not bizarre. One unique example is the state of California whose penal system operates on a Three Strikes Law which the legislators and voters legislated in the year 1994. People often refer to this law as ‘Three Strikes, and You are Out’, and as the name suggests requires among other things that three – times repeat offenders with multiple prior serious or violent felonies, be prosecuted to a minimum of twenty-five years to a life sentence (Brown, & Jolivette, 2005). The voters and legislators of California enacted this law after concerns flared up when ex-offenders who recently came out of prison committed several high–profile murders within the state. The concerned parties became worried that criminals came out of prison only to return committing serious, and usually violent crimes within their communities.
Rationale
The most problematic criminals to the state and the judicial systems are repeat offenders. The concerned authorities agree that such individuals are unresponsive to and incapable of moral rehabilitation, and the possibility of a serving prison sentence does not scare them. The Three Strikes Law, therefore, serves as a means of reducing crime and deterring repeat offenses in two ways. Firstly, enhanced sentences (longer sentences) will keep offenders out of society for longer periods, and as a result, the criminals will have fewer opportunities for committing a crime. This is a classic example of prevention rather than cure. The second way in which this penal system reduces crime is by discouraging repeat offenses with the threat of a longer than usual jail sentence. Combining these two factors and the effective result is a sharp reduction in crime rates.
Amendments
During the ballot of November 6, 2012, a change in the ‘Three Strikes Law’ came up as a proposed amendment to the constitution. Proposition 36, which people also christened “A Change in the ‘Three Strikes Law’ Initiative” which is an initiated state statute, gained approval following the ballot. The amendments dictate that the ‘Three Strikes Law’ be imposed, only when the repeat offense is serious and or violent, but still maintains a life sentence for repeat offenses in situations whereby the prior convictions were for murder, child molestation, or rape (Keel, 2013, 29).
The approved amendments to the ‘Three Strikes Law’ have resulted in the following: First and foremost, a significant number of inmates who were serving a life sentence for a non–serious and or non–violent repeat offense under the ‘Three Strikes Law’ became eligible for a review of their sentence for a shorter jail term. Secondly, the U.S government has realized millions of dollars in savings due to the reduced number of inmates in prison.
References
Brown, B., & Jolivette, G. (2005). California Legislative Analyst’s Office. A Primer: Three Strikes: The Impact After More Than a Decade. Web.
Keel, K. (2013). Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes: Index. Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes : Index. Web.
Kenneth J., P. (2011). Justice Administration: Police, Courts, and Corrections Management (7 ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.