When implementing habitual felony laws that mandate sentencing and mass incarceration there are going to be implications. The “three-strikes legislation began in 1993 when an initiative was placed on the ballot in Washington State mandating the punishment of life imprisonment without parole for offenders convicted for a third time of specified violent or serious felonies”. (Banks, 2004) It has been argued that this legislation is ‘an unrealistic expectation and bad policy making.’ This is because it relies on the notion that offenders will be informed of the possible consequences of future crimes, ‘but also on a high probability of their arrest and conviction’. (Banks, 2004) In order for this policy to work correctly offenders must be educated members of society who are capable of making ‘rational, calculating decisions… carefully weighing risks and making choices in an informed and measured manner’. (Banks, 2004) In a perfect society that may happen but in reality most offenders committed their acts with no respect for their victims. If they had respect and a straight head on their shoulders they might not have become an offender to begin with.
It is a challenging obstacle to determine if an offender is that much of a threat to society that they must be ‘permanently isolated from society’. There is no way to predict what future offenses an offender might commit. Science has come a long way in determining which offenders will ‘most likely’ offend again, but it cannot be set in stone. With the ‘three-strikes’ legislation there is a risk that someone could be put away for life who may have been reformed to not commit offenses again.
“Another criticism at the legislation is its reinforcement of the race bias in punishment by its concentration on street crimes and drug offenses.” (Banks, 2004) People of color are more likely to receive a third strike because of racial bias in the system. These laws demonstrate disproportionate sentencing by omitting white collar crimes and demonstrate “the strong and ugly strains of race, class, and ethnic bias that have produced these laws”. (Banks, 2004) Women, especially those of color are also more likely to face steeper sentences.
It has been shown that a number of states have dramatically increased their holding capacities in prisons by adding thousands of more beds. This is a strange phenomenon because it is almost as though they are expecting an influx of new inmates. “When incarceration becomes prevalent in a community, it loses its ‘mystery’, and thereby loses some of its deterring power.” (Lynch & Sabol, 2004) By the prisons increasing their capacity they are losing their mystique. Usually prison is seen as a place that you would not want to end up. High levels of incarceration in a community will lose its deterrent power because the population will be less intimidated.
Banks, C. (2004). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Lynch, J.P.; Sabol, W.J.; Assessing the Affects of Mass Incarceration on Informal Social Control in Communities. HeinOnline — 3 Criminology & Pub. Pol’y 294 2003-2004
What is Criminal Justice? 