‘3 Strikes’ Law Goes Into Effect : Crime: Governor signs legislation that aims to put habitual felons behind bars for life. He calls it only a first step toward tougher measures against crime.

Brushing aside criticisms of its cost and potential flaws, Gov. Pete Wilson on Monday signed what he called the toughest and most sweeping criminal sentencing law in the state’s history, the “three strikes” bill that is aimed at putting habitual felons behind bars for life.

Wilson, in a ceremony outside the Los Angeles Police Department’s Hollywood Division, said the bill should send a message to the worst of California’s criminals: “You’d better start finding a new line of work because we’re going to start turning career criminals into career inmates.”

But the Republican governor, seeking to build upon the momentum created by public outrage over crime, said the “three strikes” measure is only the first step in what could be a comprehensive program to toughen the state’s crime laws. He urged lawmakers to do more.

Moments after Wilson signed the bill, the man credited with spearheading its passage began submitting the last of an estimated 800,000 signatures that are expected to place a nearly identical proposal on the state ballot in November.

Mike Reynolds, a Fresno photographer whose daughter was killed by a repeat felon in 1992, said he is following through with his “three strikes and you’re out” initiative because he does not want the Legislature to tamper with the law Wilson signed.

“They are in a position to unravel everything that’s been done here,” Reynolds said.

The new law requires a sentence of 25 years to life for any felon who has committed two prior violent or serious felonies--crimes that range from burglary and arson to rape and murder. Those convicted of a second violent or serious felony would receive a sentence twice as long as what is now on the books.

The law also limits plea bargaining and requires that convicts be permitted to reduce their sentences by no more than 20% with credits for working or attending school while in prison. Until now, inmates could cut their sentences in half with such credits.

The bill’s sponsors say it gives California the toughest sentencing law in the nation.

The emergency measure took effect at 2:45 p.m. Monday when it was received and recorded by the secretary of state’s office after the bill was shuttled from Los Angeles to Sacramento by a top Wilson aide. By day’s end, it was all but certain that the first of the repeat felons who will be sentenced under the law already was in custody.

The Corrections Department reports that the new law will lead to a massive prison building boom--20 more penitentiaries by the end of the decade--and eventually increase operating costs by more than $2 billion a year. The state spends about $3 billion annually to run 28 prisons that house about 120,000 inmates.

Although the measure attracted anticipated criticism from criminal defense lawyers and civil libertarians, it also was opposed by some prosecutors, including Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti.

Speaking for Garcetti, Assistant Dist. Atty. R. Dan Murphy said his office had reservations about the bill and would have preferred another, narrower measure proposed in the Legislature.

“It is now the law,” he said. “We fully intend to enforce it.”

Murphy said the major concern of the district attorney’s office is that the law would further clog an overcrowded court system. With passage of the law, Murphy said those charged with serious crimes will be far less likely to plead guilty because it would mean being that much closer to a life sentence.

“The consequences of pleading guilty are much greater,” Murphy said.

Wilson said similar fears have been voiced before the passage of other major crackdowns on crime, including the “victims bill of rights” in 1982 and the “speedy trial” initiative in 1990, and have been unfounded.

Wilson also said the measure’s potential costs have been exaggerated because the estimates do not consider savings from a reduction in crime brought about by locking up repeat felons for longer terms. Those behind bars cannot commit more crimes, Wilson said, and others on the streets might be deterred by fear of the longer sentences.

“I’m convinced that if we are sending clear messages to career criminals, we will begin to see them reform their conduct,” Wilson said.

Even if the costs are huge, Wilson said, he believes the price will be worth it. He compared the construction of new prisons to the building of the University of California and the State Water Project, two endeavors from an earlier era that often are cited as examples of the vision of Wilson’s predecessors.

Like those projects, the new prisons will be financed with bonds, similar to a mortgage paid off over 20 years.

“We’re producing . . . capital improvements for future generations, and they rightly can be called upon to help pay for it,” Wilson said.

For Wilson, Monday was the climax of years spent advocating tougher criminal justice laws, which he championed as mayor of San Diego, as a U.S. senator and as a candidate for governor. Although his reelection campaign officially opens today, the bill signing ceremony had all the trappings of a political event.

Wilson signed the measure on a small table in the parking lot at the Police Department’s Hollywood division, which he said was chosen because it had the city’s highest rate of violent crime last year. He sat in front of a police wagon, flanked by black-and-white squad cars and ringed by uniformed officers.

With Wilson were Reynolds and the bill’s two legislative sponsors, Assemblymen Bill Jones, a Republican, and Jim Costa, a Democrat, both from Fresno. Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren also attended, with representatives from several crime victims groups and Rep. Michael Huffington, a Santa Barbara Republican who has helped pay for the “three strikes” initiative campaign and is a candidate for the U.S. Senate.

Standing behind Wilson, and watching from a distance, was Don Novey, president of the state’s prison guards union, which will grow along with any increase in the inmate population.

Wilson strategists have said the governor’s campaign will focus on crime as one of three main issues. The public in recent polls has placed the matter at or near the top of the political agenda. The governor said he has no intention of letting up on the Legislature simply because the “three strikes” bill is now law.

Until the threat of Reynolds’ initiative became real after 12-year-old Polly Klaas was slain last year in Northern California, the “three strikes” bill was languishing in the Legislature, unable to move past its first committee. Reynolds, Wilson said, helped lawmakers see the light, “or at least feel the heat.”

Now the governor is calling for the passage of other bills that would put first-time rapists and child molesters in prison for life without the possibility of parole, expand the death penalty, make it easier to try juveniles as adults, and further limit the use of credits to reduce sentences.

“This is the beginning, not the end,” Wilson said. “The Legislature must finish the job.”

Times staff writer J. Michael Kennedy contributed to this article.

Getting Tough

The “three strikes” law signed Monday by Gov. Pete Wilson gives California one of the toughest sentencing laws in the country.

THE LAW’S PROVISIONS

* 80% rule: Anyone convicted of a violent or serious felony must serve at least 80% of the sentence, up from 50%.

* Second strike: Anyone convicted to second serious or violent felony must be sentenced to twice the former prison.

* Third strike: After two convictions for serious or violent felonies, conviction on any third felony requires a minimum term of 25 years to life.

THE IMPACT OF GOVERNMENT

* Courts: Prosecutors say the law will further clog courts because those charged with serious crimes are less likely to plead guilty in the face of life sentences.

* Prisons: By 2001, state corrections experts predict, more than 20 prisons will have to be built to house 100,000 more criminals.

* Cost: The estimated $21 billion needed to build prisons is likely to be financed by state borrowing. The billions in annual operating costs will take away from other state government programs, such as higher education.