Getting hoosegowed

It's TIME to clear the sidewalks of people who make violent crime a vocation. That's the thinking behind a tough initiative now circulating in Washington State. The "Three strikes, you're out" proposal, as it's nicknamed, is elegantly simple: Any person convicted of three violent offenses would be escorted to prison--for good. No work release, no parole, no probation. Just hard time.

The sponsors are tired of reading about rapes, robberies, and murders committed by low-lifes who have made previous prison stops for similar crimes. The supporters include Ida Ballasiotes of Mercer Island, whose daughter, Diane, was murdered by a thug with a long record; and Helen Harlow of Tacoma, whose seven-year-old son was brutally attacked and his private parts mutilated, by a an assailant with a 24-year criminal resume.

What message do Washington's current sentencing rules send to brutal criminals? Judge for yourself: A man who is convicted of first-degree rape (which means he beat his victim or used a deadly weapon in the assault) and who has two violent offenses on his record can look forward to walking free in twelve years if he keeps his nose clean behind bars. A repeat child molester can be out in seven years, with good behavior. A drug dealer? Good behavior can spring him in just over four years.

The proposed initiative, in contrast, would slam the door for good on repeaters in all three of those categories. Sponsors estimate that about fifty convicts a year would be collared under the law. That might not sound like many, but we're talking about the busiest members of the criminal class. Remember that 70 per cent of all violent crimes are committed by only about 6 per cent of all violent criminals, and that third-time offenders are especially active, if released. There is a 76 per cent chance they'll offend again, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics.

Leniency in the justice system is not a problem that's unique to Washington State. Nationwide, only one out of ten people arrested for felony violations of state laws do time in a state prison, reports California's Claremont Institute. And nearly one-third of the 667,000 offenders convicted of felonies in state courts each year serve no time in prison or jail.

In other words, too often it's law-abiding people who are denied protection by the court system that their taxes underwrite. The Washington initiative is the kind of measure needed to adjust those scales.

COPYRIGHT 1992 National Review, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2008 Gale, Cengage Learning