ACLU is fighting the three strike rule.

The ACLU is fighting a piece of legislation that will bring the “three strikes rule” into another State’s legislsation.

I can understand the wish to push this legislation , i.e. to stop releasing persistent offenders, from prison, to prey on the Public again..

I can also understand the ACLU’s horror of its enactment.

The theme has cropped up in US TV progs, where two-time-losers are blackmailed by dirty cops, or supposed friends, into serious criminal or dangerous acts.

Usually the third felony is something trivial, but the punishment has escalated from a two month sentence, or even a fine, into a life sentence, because of the three strikes rule.

This seems a absurdly simple solution , so maybe I’m missing something, but why not make the third ( and fourth etc.) strike rule be a simple doubling of any mandatory sentence.

E.g. a a $5 fine becomes a $10 fine.

A 5-year sentence becomes a 10-year sentence.

It breaks down at State execution but I think even the most rabid right-winger would be content with killing someone just the once.

Tags: ACLU, Three strikes rule