California insurance broker spends $1.56 million to weaken Three-Strikes l

[Kadie]

California insurance broker spends $1.56 million to weaken Three-Strikes law

The Associated Press
Last Updated 6:12 am PDT Monday, May 31, 2004

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A Sacramento insurance broker has spent $1.56 million in an effort to qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would weaken California's three-strikes law and could lead to the release of the man's son, who is serving an eight-year prison sentence for a car crash that killed two people.

Jerry Keenan spent the money to gather petition signatures to place the initiative on the ballot, the Los Angeles Times reported Monday, citing campaign finance records. Keenan declined to discuss the issue.

Both proponents and opponents of the effort say they expect the initiative to qualify for the ballot within the next few days.

Supporters say it would save the state hundreds of millions of dollars by reserving long sentences for those who commit serious crimes rather than relatively minor offenses.

http://www.sacbee.com/state_wire/story/9490336p-10414300c.html

[FreakinDJ]

1. 3 strikes laws were too political

Each politician trying to out do the next politician in oreder to get some free publicity from the media, finaly came up with the current system which is way above and beyond what the original supporters were seeking.

The current system puts offenders behind bars for life for stealing a pack of bubble gum. Them original proposal was amid at violent offenders which were a genuine threat to society. Not habitual drug offenders

[Fovea]

2. The Cultural Trance

This was not a serious crime, because it was just an auto accident.

The cultural trance is that drivers must be held responsible for as little as possible, because loss of driving privilege is intolerable.

Blink....Blink.... wake up! We are heading into a different world at a scary rate. Politically, ecologically, economically, we just can't stay in the American Automotive Paradigm.

http://www.ems.org/climate/pentagon_climatechange.pdf

Wake up and smell the catastrophe.

[davidinalameda]

3. sounds good to me

I was never in favor of 3 strikes personally

I don't believe in mandatory sentencing procedures

the judges should have the leeway to sentence as they see fit--they're the ones who know the cases