This is an archive of a past election.
See http://www.smartvoter.org/ca/bt/ for current information.
Butte County, CA June 8, 2010 Election
Smart Voter

The Three Strikes Law

By Michael L. Ramsey

Candidate for District Attorney; County of Butte

This information is provided by the candidate
California's "Three Strikes" law has come under increasing criticism from its opponents claiming that defendant's who have committed relatively minor offenses are being unfairly and unnecessarily sentenced to life in prison.
The decision whether to seek and maintain charges of "three strikes" against a particular defendant involves a balancing of the seriousness of the current charge(s) against the defendant's past criminal behavior. The less serious the current charge(s), the more egregious the defendant's criminal past must be and vice versa. The assessment of the seriousness of the current charge(s) is relatively simple by reviewing the current police reports. A review of the past behavior is done with a "Three Strikes Report", which is a report produced by investigators in the District Attorney Investigations Bureau's Major Crime Unit. This report gathers all available information about the defendant's past, including all past police reports (whether they resulted in a conviction or not), probation reports, parole violation reports, court records, etc. This report is modeled upon the same type of "past life report" produced in potential death penalty cases, which aid in the decision as to whether to seek the death penalty.

The "Three Strikes Report" is ordered after an initial review of the current police reports and the defendant's "rap sheet" by the District Attorney or Chief Deputy indicates further review is warranted.

Once the "Three Strikes Report" is completed, it is reviewed by the District Attorney or Chief Deputy to determine the ultimate question: "Is this a person who should be imprisoned for life for the protection of the public?"

Next Page: Position Paper 3

Candidate Page || Feedback to Candidate || This Contest
June 2010 Home (Ballot Lookup) || About Smart Voter

ca/bt Created from information supplied by the candidate: May 4, 2010 09:32
Smart Voter <http://www.smartvoter.org/>
Copyright © League of Women Voters of California Education Fund.
The League of Women Voters neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office or political parties.