Limitation on "Three-Strikes" Law
             Of all the 2004 ballot propositions, I believe that Proposition 66 has the most significant impact on California. Proposition 66 would put limits on the current "three-strikes" law that California has in affect. This not only makes things "less harsh" for criminals who don't necessarily deserve 25 years to life for "not so severe" felonies, but it also greatly impacts the lives of the general population of California. There is a direct connection between the rising prison costs and the current three-strikes law. The prison system in California is the largest in the entire United States and has a budget of over 3.5 billion dollars a year. California tax-payers pay to house over 161,000 inmates, and over half of the inmates convicted under the three-strikes law were convicted of non-violent crimes (Proposition 66...), resulting in overcrowded prisons and higher taxes for Californians.
             There are three kinds of crimes: felonies, misdemeanors, and infractions. A felony is the most serious type of crime. About 18 percent of people convicted of a felony are sent to state prison. The rest are supervised on probation in the community, sentenced to county jail, or both.
             Existing law classifies some felonies as "violent" or "serious," or both. Of the inmates sentenced to prison in 2003, approximately 30 percent were convicted for crimes defined as serious or violent (Marianne 1). Examples of felonies currently defined as violent include murder, robbery, and rape and other sex offenses. Felonies defined as serious include the same offenses defined as violent felonies, but also include other offenses such as burglary of a residence and assault with intent to commit robbery. Before 1994, Californians had to witness several highly publicized murder cases. A few of these included 18 year old Kimberly Reynolds getting shot, and 12 year old Polly ...