Rally Urges Three-Strikes Reform

Opponents of California’s three-strikes law took the first steps Saturday in an effort toward reforming legislation they say prosecutors have misapplied to target the poor, minorities and nonviolent drug offenders.

In a rally and march through Westwood, members of Families to Amend California’s Three Strikes bore placards and told stories of friends and family members they say have been given life sentences for petty theft, drug possession and other minor offenses.

“It’s cruel, it’s unusual,” said Robin Steffen, who said her husband, John, got a sentence of life plus four years for possession of half a gram of rock cocaine.

“He’s addicted, and all his offenses from day one were drug-related,” she said.

Steffen, a recovering addict who has served seven prison terms, said she was ordered to attend inmate-staffed firefighting camps as part of sentencing three times, but was never offered treatment for her addiction.

Passed by ballot initiative in 1993 and enacted the next year, the three-strikes law was touted as a get-tough solution to violent crime. It requires sentences of 25 years to life for any offender convicted of two serious or violent felonies who is convicted of a third felony of any kind.

In California, 340 people are serving 25-to-life for petty theft; 6,400 have received 25-to-life since 1994.

Marchers said they were drawing attention to a bill, AB 1790, introduced by Assemblywoman Jackie Goldberg (D-Los Angeles) to mandate that strikes be given only for serious or violent crimes.

“Change is going to come,” Goldberg said after the march. “It’s going to come either at the hands of the people or the courts, and it should come from the hands of the people because they may not like what the courts come up with.”

A federal appeals court last month struck down 25-year sentences imposed on two men convicted of petty theft, calling them “grossly disproportionate.” The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said it was not overturning three-strikes, however.

Several participants in the march said the intent of the law is often thwarted by overzealous prosecutors.

Marcher Fred A. Zullo said his mentally ill son faces up to 90 years in prison for making terrorist threats against the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department.

Zullo said his son grew despondent after being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1999, and left the threats on an answering machine. “He was trying to commit suicide by cop, but he’s never hurt anyone,” Zullo said.

The crowd at the protest, estimated at about 200 by police, wound its way through Westwood Village led by three costumed participants.

One played the part of Gov. Gray Davis, a staunch supporter of three-strikes. Another man, dressed as a prison guard, wore the logo of the California Correctional Peace Officer Assn., a powerful lobbying group. The third man wore a business suit, representing, according to participants, a member of the “prison industrial complex.”

The pockets and belts of all three men were stuffed with fake money, and they walked in front of a rolling cage holding two young African American men.

Anthony Lyon, who took a break from studying to watch the protest, said he supports reform. “I think the nature of the law is stocking our prisons with too many people,” he said.

Others in the midday crowd, such as Eric Schirding, were critical of the march.

“How many strikes do you want?” he muttered as the procession moved past. “I’m all for three-strikes,” he said. “They may go to jail for something small, but what are the other two strikes for?”