Category: Three Strike Crime

With an increasingly crowded penitentiary system and many offenders serving life in prison for nonviolent crimes, more and more critics of America’s current legal system – including California criminal defense lawyers– have been questioning the usefulness of the three strikes law in today’s society. The Law Though its name is largely self-explanatory in nature, California’s Three Strikes Sentencing Law isn’t quite as straightforward as it sounds. It mandates that anyone convicted of a second felony be sentenced to twice the sentence that a first would incur. For a third, the sentence must be at least 25 years, and possibly as long as life. In… Read More

The website latimes.com reported in a story on May 13, 2009 that a group of students from Stanford University assisted by their professors are helping 3rd strike offenders get out of prison early. The students aim their efforts at mostly non-violent inmates where their third strike was a minor offense. Inmate Norman Williams, 45 had not received a visitor for nearly 10 years when he got a visit from two Stanford students and a professor offering a chance of freedom. Williams’ third strike crime was stealing tools and a car jack from a tow truck. Sitting in Folsom state prison,… Read More

The latimes.com website reported in an article on April 13, 2009 that rapper Flesh-N-Bone, whose real name is Stanley Howse, 35 a founding member of the rap group known as Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, is being charged for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Howse is a Grammy winning rapper, and this charge is the most recent in a string of legal problems. Jane Robinson, spokeswoman for the district attorney’s office stated that Howse was pulled over by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies after they noticed a broken brake light on his car. Being on parole, Howse was then subjected… Read More