Three Strikes, You Are Out! - Baseball Phrase

September 21, 2011

Three Strikes, You Are OUT!

Many are familiar with this baseball phrase. What may not be familiar is the fact that this is the frame work/basis of the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. A similar law initially came about in Washington under Initiative 593. Then was followed by California passing its own law Proposition 184widely known as “The Three Strikes Law”.(a) The campaign to put this law into effect came primarily from the father of a murder victim, Mike Reynolds. His 18year old daughter Kimber was shot to death by 2 repeat offenders in 1992. The final straw and ultimate support came almost two years later after the kidnapping, rape and murder of twelve year old Polly Klaas from a slumber party by a repeat felon who was currently out on parole. It brought an enormous amount of public of public outcry which propelled the enactment of the law. ("California proposition 184,,")

Since then this law has been enacted in twenty six states under different provisions and is typically referred to as habitual offender laws. “Under the federal "Three Strikes" provision, which is now codified at 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c), the defendant receives mandatory life imprisonment if he or she is convicted in federal court of a "serious violent felony" and has two or more prior convictions in federal or state courts, at least one of which is a "serious violent felony." The other prior offense may be a "serious drug offense."

Under the statute, a "serious violent felony" includes murder, manslaughter, sex offenses, kidnapping, robbery, and any offense punishable by 10 years or more which includes as an element the use of force or that, by its nature, involves a significant risk of force. The statute also enumerates certain non-qualifying felonies, including unarmed robbery offenses and arsons that posed no threat to human life. An unarmed robbery offense may serve as a basis for "Three Strikes" sentencing if the offense involved the threat of use of a firearm or other dangerous weapon -or the offense resulted in death or serious bodily injury to any person. If the government files in such a case, the defendant must establish by clear and convincing evidence that neither of those factors existed. An arson will not serve as the basis for "Three Strikes" sentencing if the defendant establishes by clear and convincing evidence that the offense posed no threat to human life and the defendant reasonably believed that it posed no threat to human life. In addition a "serious drug offense" includes continuing criminal enterprise, violations of Title 21 involving distribution, manufacture, or possession with intent to distribute significant quantities of controlled substances, or equivalent state offenses. ("Criminal resource manual 1032," 1995)”