Law Strikes Out

Good try, lawmakers. You almost got it right. Last year our elected officials (in Sacramento) were tripping over themselves to get some kind of “tough-on-crime” legislation on the books before voters had a chance to embarrass them by voting in their own “three strikes” initiative at the ballot box this past November.

Only one small problem. In their haste, they forgot to put into the law the provision that the “third strike” must be a felony. Now, we are going to have our burgeoning prisons filled with people like J. Demyers for selling $50 of cocaine to undercover cops. Just think, a criminal who is convicted of a violent rape, goes to jail, comes out and violently rapes again and then goes to jail again may very well be out on the streets before Ms. Demyers.

We are all fed up with crime, and really fed up with the early release of criminals who then quickly repeat their offenses. But what people are really terrified of are the types of violent crimes that diminish our sense of “personal safety.” I would propose that society would be in favor of paying the $12,000 to $15,000 yearly cost of incarceration of criminals who have proven (through violent felonies) to be too great a risk to society to tolerate. Not for criminals selling $50 of cocaine.

DENNIS TAYLOR

Santa Ana