SECOND THOUGHTS ON 'THREE STRIKES' LAW

Crime: Support Is Growing For A Requirement That The Third Offense Be A
Violent One.

Sue Reams marched into the polls in November 1994 and, like millions
of Californians, punched "yes" for Proposition 184, a state law
calling for 25 years-to-life sentences for third-time felons.

"I thought they meant murderers and rapists," said Reams, a
51-year-old insurance broker from Fountain Valley.

Reams came to understand the law better after her only son, Shane, was
arrested for being a lookout while a friend sold $20 of rock cocaine
in 1996. Her son's conviction for that felony, coupled with two prior
burglary convictions, sent him to Pleasant Valley State Prison in
Coalinga for 25 years to life.

"I didn't fully understand (the law) until he was convicted," Reams
said. "The lawyer said, 'They don't put people in prison for 25 to
life for watching somebody sell drugs.' And I believed that. ... It's
cruel and unjust. It's a political issue, totally misunderstood by the
public."

The law has been touted as key to the state's lowest crime rates in a
generation. Even critics such as Sue Reams do not want it repealed
altogether - rather,they want the law changed so that the third strike
must be a violent felony.

Reams and fellow activists are steadily building an audience for their
cause, both statewide and in Orange County. While the county was one
of the state's strongest supporters of the law's passage, there is
growing sentiment among county lawmakers that "three strikes, you're
out" needs refinement. In fact, the county has become a key player in
the movement for change.

"There are cases where these guys are not career criminals and just
got caught up in something relatively minor," said Assemblyman Scott
Baugh, R-Huntington Beach, who supported the law in 1994 but now
wonders if amendments should be made.

Two of Orange County's four incumbent Republican Assembly members -
Baugh and Marilyn Brewer of Irvine - crossed party lines in September
to support a bill to study the successes and failures of the law.

That bill, which was vetoed by Gov. Pete Wilson, was launched with the
help of Tim Carpenter, a Fullerton activist who works with Reams and
other members of the county chapter of Families to Amend California's
Three Strikes, or FACTS.

"We have the toughest terrain in Orange County," said Carpenter. "If
we are successful in moving (Orange County lawmakers), we can move the
rest of the Legislature."

A third county GOP incumbent, Villa Park Assemblyman Bill Campbell,
opposed the study bill over a since-forgotten detail. But Campbell,
said Wednesday that the third strike should be required to be a
violent offense.

That is the goal being pursued by Reams and Carpenter, who believe
that a state study will highlight failures and injustices and bolster
support for changes in the law.

The two saw the November election as a boon to their effort.
Democrats, who almost unanimously supported the study bill, broadened
their advantage in the Assembly by five seats and in the Senate by two
seats. Among the victors was Sen.-elect Joe Dunn of Santa Ana, who has
attended FACTS gatherings and supports three-strikes changes.

Perhaps more importantly, Democrat Gray Davis is replacing
Wilson.

"I'm pretty confident Davis would sign this," Carpenter said of the
study bill. Davis spokesman Michael Bustamante said Davis had no
position on the issue at this time.

A LAW BORN OF VIOLENCE

The three-strikes law was passed in 1994 after the highly publicized
case of 12-year-old Polly Klass, who was kidnapped and murdered in
Petaluma the previous year by a career criminal with two previous
kidnapping convictions.

"Polly Klaas was on everyone's lips," said Mike Reynolds, who
spearheaded the initiative drive for the law. Reynolds' own daughter
was killed in a botched purse snatching in 1993. Again, the killer was
a career criminal. (Klass' father, Marc Klaas, opposed the ballot measure.)

The law was co-sponsored by three Orange County legislators, including
Sen. Rob Hurtt, R-Garden Grove, who was defeated by Dunn last month.
It was passed by the state Legislature and approved in the polls by 72
percent of voters statewide and 80 percent in Orange County.

"We had made a mistake somewhere along the road in letting criminals
out of jail too easily," said Reynolds. "We're saying to criminals,
'if you've done two strikes, you've got to stop doing crime.' The
people who don't like it are the criminals, their families and their
attorneys."

California was the second state to pass a three-strikes law, and about
two dozen states have followed suit. But California's version remains
the toughest - nowhere else can a nonviolent third strike send an
criminal to prison for life. This means that shoplifting with a prior
offense or drug possession can count as a third strike.

"My daughter was killed by a purse snatcher," said Reynolds. "Is purse
snatching a violent offense?"

District attorneys have the choice of whether to seek a third-strike
conviction, and judges can downgrade the sentences sought by
prosecutors, a safety valve that Reynolds says protects those who
don't deserve the third-strike sentence.

A 1997 study by The Orange County Register found that county judges
reduced sentencing in 71 percent of the 175 three-strikes cases they
had considered. Just five of those reductions were for violent crimes.

DIFFERENT SIDES, DIFFERENT STUDIES

In Wilson's veto message for the three-strikes study bill, the
governor quoted a Rand Corp. report projecting a 21 percent decrease
in crime attributable to the law.

Reynolds prefers a report not mentioned by Wilson, one issued by
Attorney General Dan Lungren, a staunch advocate of the law. It
attributed much of the state's 31 percent decline in crime from 1994
to 1997 to three strikes.

Critics point out the decline in crime started before the law was
enacted and say Lungren downplayed other factors, including
demographics and the tailing off of the rock-cocaine trade.

Assemblyman Dick Ackerman, R-Fullerton, says enough studies have been
done and more time under the law is needed before a conclusive
examination is possible.

"It's a somewhat harsh law, but it's having its desired effect,"
Acherman said. "Every time you pass a law, it's not going to fit every
case."

Brewer and Baugh disagree with Ackerman that no further study is
needed now. Brewer said she is particularly concerned about letters
she's received from criminals whose first two strikes were 20 or 30
years ago and who are facing 25 years in prison because of a
nonviolent third offense.

"This study would be from a different source, and it may be more
centrist (than Lungren's)," Brewer said.

The study proposed this year would also have examined unanticipated
state costs. While Lungren argued that the law actually saved the
state money, the Rand study predicted that the increase in prison
building and operations would cost the state $5.5 billion annually.

Critics point to private studies that say drug rehabilitation and high
school programs for at-risk teens are more cost-effective than the
current three-strikes law, and say that's another reason for change.

"We're bankrupting the state both morally and economically," Carpenter
said.

But while there is sufficient support in the Legislature for a study,
actual changes will be tougher to achieve. Amending the law requires a
two-thirds majority of the Legislature, but some activists believe
that might be an easier route than an initiative asking voters to
water down three strikes.

FROM TOUGH LOVE TO HEARTBREAK

When Shane Reams was 17, he robbed a neighbor's house. Four years
later, he robbed two more neighbors' houses. His mother says she
persuaded Shane to turn himself in. He spent 18 months in prison.

"I was practicing tough love," Sue Reams said. "I thought he needed
help and this would show him. But when he came out of prison, boy,
he'd changed from being a young man to somebody who knew about prison
life. He's learned more about drugs and crime in prison than he has
out her."

At 25, Shane Reams was convicted for being the middleman in a $20 sale
of rock cocaine. At 28, he was convicted of his third strike for
standing lookout while a friend sold two-tenths of a gram of rock
cocaine to an undercover agent. There was no evidence linking him to
other sales. His friend, who didn't face the three-strikes law, was
released after two years.

"It's heartbreaking," said Sue Reams. "And I feel a lot of guilt,
because I was so rigid with him. He's not a mean, violent person. He's
a gentle person. Somebody said we're angry at them, not because we're
afraid of them. I don't think that's right.

WHO'S STRIKING OUT?

Under the state's 4-year-old three-strikes law, third-time felons can
be locked up for 25 years to life. As of March 31, 4,076 felons had
been sent to prison on the law's sentencing guidelines, mostly for
nonviolent offenses. Here's a breakdown of the third-strike offenses
for those sentenced under the law:

Crimes against persons:38%
Property Crimes: 33.2%
Drug Crimes: 18.8%
Other Crimes: 8.7%
Unknown: 1.2%

THE 'THREE STRIKE'S' LAW

The law passed by the state legislature and California voters in 1994
called for a mandatory sentence of 25 years to life for anyone with
two "serious or violent" felony convictions who is convicted of a
third felony.

In 1996, the Supreme Court ruled that judges can ignore a defendant's
prior convictions if they believe a sentence of 25 years to life would
be too severe. Prosecutors also have discretion not to seek
third-strike convictions.

The first two "serious or violent" felonies range from residential
burglary to murder. The third strike applies to all felonies,
including possession of small quantities of illegal drugs, petty
theft, receiving stolen property and forgery.

The law also mandates a sentence double that otherwise required by law
for anyone with a single "serious or violent" felony who is then
convicted of a second felony.

CASE EXAMPLES

Some who seek to amend "three-strikes, you're out" use these four
cases as examples of unjust administration of the law.

Jerry DeWayne Williams, who had earlier served time for robbery and
attempted robbery, initially was sentenced to 25 years to life for
stealing a $2 slice of pizza in Redondo Beach. The sentence was
reduced on appeal.

Kevin T. Weber, who had two residential burglary convictions, broke
into a Santa Ana restaurant and came away with four cookies and a
sentence of 25 years to life.

Russell Benson's first two strikes originated from a single knife
attack, so when he stole a carton of cigarettes from Target, he got a
15-to-life sentence.

Stephan Dewayne Edwards, who had two burglary convictions, was
entenced to 15 years to life when he was caught in Santa Ana with
one-third of a gram of rock cocaine, but his sentence was reduced on
appeal.

Checked-by: Patrick Henry