Tough, and Good Policy to Boot

Today the Assembly Public Safety Committee is scheduled to debate SB 864, a bill that could inject some badly needed reality into the understandable clamor over crime and punishment in California.

If eventually enacted, SB 864 will put an initiative on the November ballot for voter consideration. The measure offers a sensible alternative to the ill-conceived “three strikes and you’re out” initiative already on the ballot. Otherwise known as the Reynolds initiative, “three strikes” would amend the state Constitution to mandate life imprisonment without parole for a third conviction on any one of several felonies. If Reynolds passes, only subsequent amendment by a two-thirds popular vote could remove the law.

One problem with the Reynolds initiative is it is so broad it could wind up pushing extremely violent felons out of prison to make room for less violent--and even nonviolent--ones sentenced under Reynolds. Many Californians gladly would support harsh punishment for such violent crimes as murder, rape and kidnaping. But what about life in prison for residential burglary, petty theft and even making a false statement on a loan application? All of these crimes would qualify as a “third strike” under Reynolds.

Because California already has a “three-strikes” law--a too-broad statute passed by the state Legislature--the Reynolds constitutional amendment is, at best, unnecessary. What is necessary is SB 864, sponsored by Sen. Quentin L. Kopp (I-San Francisco). The Kopp measure appropriately reserves the harshest punishment--life without parole--for repeat violent offenders. It would make for a tough law and sensible public policy.