SOROS, 2 OTHERS GIVE FINANCIAL BOOST TO THREE STRIKES BALLOT MEASURE

$450,000 To Help Try To Weaken Law

SACRAMENTO -- International financier George Soros and two other
wealthy donors have contributed a total of $450,000 for a November
ballot measure that would alter California's tough three strikes
sentencing law.

Backers of the measure believe the donation will help them compete in
a currency critical for ballot-measure campaigns: television
advertisements.

"In short, we will not be overrun by the prison guards. This campaign
will be a fair fight," said Joe Klaas, spokesman for Proposition 66
and the grandfather of murder victim Polly Klaas, whose killing fueled
the three strikes law in 1994.

Opponents say the contribution will actually help their cause by
making it clear that wealthy out-of-state donors are trying to
dismantle California's criminal justice laws. Soros, John Sperling,
founder of the University of Phoenix, and Peter Lewis, founder of
Progressive Insurance, each contributed $150,000 to the ballot
measure. A spokesman said the trio may donate more as the campaign
rolls on.

"They've launched an assault on our crime laws," said Steve Rice,
spokesman for the campaign against Proposition 66.

The proposition, which enjoys strong support in early polls, would
require a third strike that triggers a 25-years-to-life sentence to be
a violent or serious crime. Currently, that third offense can be a
nonviolent felony, including forgery or petty theft.

The initiative also reduces the number of crimes that count as
strikes, increases penalties for child molesters and could save the
state millions of dollars in prison costs, according to the
nonpartisan Legislative Analyst.

The contributions likely won't be the last, according to the Drug
Policy Alliance Network, an organization financed in part by Soros,
Lewis and Sperling.

"We're prepared to do whatever it takes to win this campaign," said
Glenn Backes, director of the network's California office.

The donation marks the third time that this trio has backed criminal
justice measures in California.

In 1996, the three gave money to pass Proposition 215, which sought to
legalize marijuana for medical uses. In 2000, they supported the
successful Proposition 36, which diverts drug offenders from prison to
treatment.

Rice said these wealthy donors are trying to take apart the state's
criminal justice system one step at a time.

But their involvement should serve as a warning to voters because he
said their past ballot measures haven't worked.

"The causes they become associated with don't do what they say they
are going to do," Rice said.

So far, the prison guards union, a major backer of the original three
strikes law, has contributed only about $49,000 to the effort to
defeat this reform proposal. Calls to union officials weren't returned
yesterday.

Besides the California Correctional Peace Officers Association,
opponents of Proposition 66 include prosecutors, law enforcement
officials, Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Democratic
Attorney General Bill Lockyer.

Soros, a billionaire, has contributed tens of millions of dollars to
promote justice in former Soviet bloc countries. He has also sparked
controversy by giving millions of dollars to groups trying to defeat
President Bush in the November election.