PROP. 66 CAMPAIGN UNLEASHES EMOTIONS

Initiative to Ease Harshest Sentencing Law in U.S. Gaining

To backers of Proposition 66, which would soften California's harsh
"three strikes, you're out" law, next month's election is all about
thousands of prison inmates like Alex Price. A San Jose judge put
Price behind bars for life for a "third strike" of possessing less
than a gram of methamphetamine.

To opponents, particularly in law enforcement, the vote boils down to
convicts like John Bunyard. A career criminal with a rap sheet of
murders and rapes, the "third-striker" sentenced to life in Santa
Clara County would be eligible for release if Proposition 66 passes.

These grim choices highlight an increasingly tense and vigorous
campaign over the future of the toughest sentencing law in the nation.
With weeks to go before the election, there is no apparent middle
ground for voters, who are being bombarded with emotionally charged
examples of why a change in the "three strikes" law would either
result in fair justice or releasing violent felons to the streets.

The objective of Proposition 66 is simple enough: It would change
California law to require that a defendant be convicted of a violent
or serious felony to qualify for a "third strike" sentence of 25
years to life. California now is the only state that permits
defendants to receive those stiff sentences for non-violent "third
strikes," including simple drug possession and petty theft.

Thus far, recent polls show strong support for softening the law, no
small feat in tough-on-crime California. Voters 10 years ago
overwhelmingly approved "three strikes" after Polly Klaas was
kidnapped and murdered by parolee Richard Allen Davis.

But the consequences of changing "three strikes" under Proposition
66's terms are a subject of heated debate.

Holding up mug shots of local criminals, district attorneys throughout
the state have warned if the law is changed, thousands of violent
"third-strikers" would be released, along with more than 20,000
convicts serving time under the state's equally harsh "two strikes"
sentencing law.

Violent felons

"I don't feel the public will support Prop. 66 if they know it would
release child molesters, rapists and murderers," said Brian Gurwitz,
an Orange County prosecutor working on the anti-66 campaign.

Proposition 66 backers say prosecutors are engaging in what Joe Klaas,
the campaign co-chair and Polly's grandfather, calls "malicious scare
tactics." To underscore the tension behind the issue, Joe Klaas is a
strong supporter of changing "three strikes" so it applies only to
violent felonies, while Polly's father, Marc Klaas, is squarely
against the ballot measure.

Supporters of the change say it would apply only to about 4,000
inmates serving "three strikes" sentences for non-violent third
offenses, and guarantee that future "three strikes" punishment is
reserved for the worst of the worst.

"We're not going to open the floodgates," said former Santa Clara
County Judge LaDoris Cordell, who has been actively campaigning for
the initiative. "It's finally making the law fair."

The prospect of defendants getting life terms for relatively minor
third offenses has been the most controversial element of "three
strikes." From pizza thieves to a convict who stole golf clubs, cases
of defendants getting life terms for minor crimes have provoked a
backlash against the law, even if some defendants had lengthy criminal
records.

The California Supreme Court in 1996 gave judges some leeway to throw
out "third strikes" "in the interests of justice." But the ruling
had strict limits and critics say it's been applied unevenly. Efforts
to soften the law have repeatedly failed in the Legislature. And last
year, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected a crucial legal challenge by
finding that life terms for petty theft and other non-violent felonies
are constitutional.

'Buried alive' inmates

Bankrolled by a wealthy Sacramento insurance broker whose son is in
prison on a "two strikes" sentence, Proposition 66 gained momentum
from the start.

That worries people like Kathy Amen, one of Bunyard's victims who
spent a day as his hostage in Nevada in 1973 -- around the time he
murdered two other women.

In 1995, Bunyard, dubbed the "Nob Hill rapist" for a string of
assaults in San Francisco in the 1970s, was sentenced to 25-years to
life in Santa Clara County for an attempted lewd act on a 14-year-old
girl. Compared with his past, it was a relatively minor crime --
Bunyard had nine felony convictions overall, including the two
murders, when paroled to San Jose in 1986.

The "third strike" that put him away was a non-violent offense that
could get him released right away if Proposition 66 passes.

"This is just one maniac," said Amen, who testified in Bunyard's
"third-strike" case and believed he was in prison for good. "A lot
of people don't realize what this really means. I didn't even know."

Opponents are using such cases in an attempt to shrink support, but
their campaign is running on a shoestring budget so far. Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger is expected to throw his weight behind the opposition
with an appearance later this month.

Backers of Proposition 66, meanwhile, say cases like Bunyard's are an
aberration. They counter with inmates who've been "buried alive,"
their term for unfair life prison terms.

State records show that more than half of California's
"three-strikers" are in prison for non-violent crimes, and
supporters of changing the law say most of those inmates had criminal
histories that resemble Alex Price's.

A local judge sentenced Price to 25 years to life earlier this year on
a drug possession charge that was a so-called "wobbler," which can
be charged as a misdemeanor or a felony. His two prior "strikes"
occurred 12 years ago, one for assault with a deadly weapon and the
other for battery.

Prosecutors point out that Price flunked out of drug treatment, had
numerous parole violations and repeated "second chances." Defense
attorneys say he was no angel, but no John Bunyard, either.

Price is unlikely to get out of prison unless the law is changed.

"He's a prime example," said Craig Kennedy, a San Jose deputy
public defender who tracks "three strikes" cases. "We know this is
not a guy who is going to rob your house, beat you up or commit sex
offenses. These sentences aren't necessarily what communities want."