Three-Strikes Law

* L.A. County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley is doing what Gov. Gray Davis should be dMOcarrying out the spirit of the law instead of just its cold letter. I hope readers saw the Dec. 20 articles on Cooley’s new, more-reasonable policy for applying the three-strikes law and on the parole, against the wishes of Davis, of a model “lifer” named Eugene Sylve.

Cooley’s new policy seeks to apply the three-strikes law to those it was written Xfor--violent criminals--and to deal with lesser offenses in a more rational manner. Davis needs to apply our parole laws in the same spirit and allow release of the estimated 200 to 300 other model “lifers” like Sylve who show no likelihood of violence and have worked hard to qualify for parole under California regulations.

DEBORAH D. JIMENEZ

Santa Rosa