SOUTH-CENTRAL : ‘3 Strikes’ Law Is Unclear, Activists Say

Calling it a wake-up call, activists spoke out last week against the state’s new “three strikes and you’re out” law, which they say is misunderstood and thus unfairly targets the local community.

“I’m here to make sure that people are aware of the trap that exists for minority communities,” said Connie Rice of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People’s Legal Defense Fund.

The Wednesday forum, sponsored by the Community Coalition for Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment, included a panel discussion on the law and a similar federal initiative that calls for mandatory life prison sentences for offenders with two prior felony convictions.

Resident John Davis was among the more than 150 community leaders and residents who attended the meeting at 3320 W. Adams Blvd. He said this was the first opportunity he has had to learn more about the law and similar federal initiatives.

“What drew me here is the dialogue that’s going on because I have a son who’s been involved in a felony,” Davis said. “There is a lack of information out there from both sides. I think there should be a coalition formed that would present this issue in the schools and elsewhere.”

Coalition director Karen Bass said the meeting was a first step in what her organization plans as a series of legal workshops.

“What people hear is, ‘Three strikes and you’re out,’ but they don’t know what a ‘strike’ means,” Bass said. “They think it means if you commit three horrendous crimes. They don’t understand that it can be two felonies and a bad check.”

Critics said the new law will further crowd prisons and do little to deter crime.

“Southern California has been so rocked by problems and it’s allowed for these laws to be run through here,” said Joseph Moss, president of the Men of Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, “but when Los Angeles wakes up, it’s going to find jails everywhere.”

Bass said the meeting was also intended to let recovering drug addicts know how the law affects them: “A lot of our (organization’s) members are recovering addicts who already have three strikes but have turned their lives around. But given the history of the disease, they could slip back. We want people to know how this law applies to them.”

Supporters of the measure signed into law last month by Gov. Pete Wilson said it will protect the public from repeat offenders.

Among those in the Los Angeles area who have already been charged under the new law is Charles Ernest Bentley, 37, who was arrested after he allegedly wrested coins from a homeless man.