Three-Strikes and You’re Out:California’s get-tough-on-crime policy doesn’t work … or does it?

This paper will discuss the literature that examines the relationship between the "Three Strikes and You're Out" law and its impact on the criminal justice system in California. The three strikes law was passed as a “get tough” response on crime, and its goal was to serve as a deterrent and to reduce violent crime by incarcerating repeat offenders for the rest of their lives (Macallair & Males 1999). Repeat offenders are thought to be responsible for a majority of crimes (Wolfgang, Figlio, and Sellin 1972; Shannon, McKim, Curry, and Haffner 1988; West and Farrington 1977). The most thorough study of recidivism, done in 1986 by the National Research Council, produced the estimate that ``active violent offenders'' probably commit two to four violent crimes a year, while ``active nonviolent offenders'' were responsible for five to 10 property crimes a year (Cannon 1998).
While other states have adopted the same or a similar policy, California was selected for this review because ...