Three Strikes and You’re Out!
Posted on May 9, 2008
Filed Under Felonies, Law, Three Strikes |
In California, it’s three strikes and you’re out! The California Three Strikes Law gives you three chances to shape up. Slip up three times and you could spend your life in jail, even if that third offense is relatively minor.
Determined to get tough on crime, California passed the harsh Three Strikes Law to keep violent offenders behind bars. The law lengthens prison sentences and reduces prison credit for good behavior. The goal of the law is to get repeat felony offenders off the streets and keep them in jail longer.
California considers certain violent or serious felony convictions to be a “strike” against your record. Similar felony convictions from other states also count as strikes. If the offender was 16 or 17, certain juvenile offenses can also be considered strikes. Among the crimes considered to be strike offenses are murder and voluntary manslaughter, kidnapping, grand theft with a firearm, rape or forced sodomy, sexual abuse of a child under 14, carjacking with a deadly weapon, selling drugs to minors and robbery.
The Three Strikes Law mandates a life term sentence for a third felony conviction if you have already been convicted of two or more “strike” offenses. Conviction of even a single strike forces a prison sentence of twice the usual term for subsequent convictions. There is no statute of limitations on prior offenses. Convictions that occurred before enactment of the Three Strikes Law can count against you. In addition, prior offenses, even those in the distant past, will continue to count as strikes. The Three Strikes Law never wipes the slate clean. Your record, including your juvenile record will continue to count against you as long as you live, even if a conviction is dismissed or expunged.
For more information on LA criminal defense, visit our English website or Spanish version website for more information.
-LegalPro
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