“The study showed that more than 4,000 inmates in California are serving life sentences for nonviolent offenses under the three-strikes law. Although judges have sentencing discretion in a very narrow band of three-strikes cases, the reality is that judges almost universally consider themselves bound under California law to impose a life sentence for a third felony offense, no matter how minor. We also learned that the law is disproportionately applied to minorities, the mentally ill and the poor.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/opinion/three-strikes-of-injustice.html?_r=1
Related posts:
Spendopedia: Federal waste collection site opens on Internet
Needy EU Nations Woo Chinese Home Buyers to Ease Slump
For sale: Systems to secretly track cellphone users around the globe
Gun ownership gets easier in Texas starting Sunday
Report: U.S. middle class has 'worst decade in modern history'
California town’s police chief, officers arrested in impound racket
Pentagon sends troops to Jordan to counter Syria chemical weapons threat
Building superintendent mistakes tomato plants for pot, and so did cops he called
ATMs being rolled out in Australia for online currency Bitcoin
Despite all-time highs, many investors are cashing out of stock mutual funds
The Latest Suburban Crime Wave
Native Hawaiians to Feds: Give Us Back Our Kingdom
California man is exonerated after 25 years on death row
Federal Reserve confirms its computers were hacked
Dangerous Experiment in Fetal Engineering