Punishment and Democracy Three Strikes and You're Out in California [Hardcover]

Getting tough on crime has been one of the favorite rallying cries of American politicians in the last two decades, and getting tough on repeat offenders has been particularly popular. Three strikes and you're out laws, which effectively impose a 25-years-to-life sentence at the moment of a third felony conviction, have been passed in 26 states. California's version of the three strikes law, enacted in 1994, was broader and more severe than measures considered or passed in any other state.

Punishment and Democracyis the first examination of the actual impact this law has had. Franklin Zimring, Sam Kamin, and Gordon Hawkins look at the origins of the law in California, compare it to other crackdown laws, and analyze the data collected on crime rates in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco in the year before and the two years after the law went into effect. They show that the three strikes law was a significant development in criminal justice policy making, not only at the state level, but also at the national level. They conclude with an examination of the trend toward populist initiatives driving penal policy.

The importance of the subject and the stature of the authors make this book required reading for policy analysts, criminal justice scholars, elected officials, and indeed any American seeking to know more about get-tough criminal sentencing.

[A] major study of this unique legislation.... [It] is, quite simply, required reading for anyone interested in crime policy in California, the United States in general, or any modern democratic nation....In an area drenched with emotionalism, the authors have produced a study that is analytically incisive in setting up its categories, conscientious in collecting its data, and judicious in reaching its conclusions. It is also highly readable. --Law and Politics Book Review

Ever since California's 'Three Strikes and You're Out' law was adopted, supporterls*