ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, September 11, 1996 TAG: 9609130091
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Landmark News Service
Tough ``three-strikes-and-you're-out'' anti-crime laws are rarely used by the federal government and most of the 22 states that have enacted them, according to a national survey released Monday.
Such laws, which vary from state to state, allow or require life imprisonment or long sentences for three-time violent felons. The federal ``three strikes'' law calls for a mandatory life sentence.
In Virginia, about 400 convicted felons are serving time under a "three-time loser" statute enacted in the early 1980s. That law, which eliminated parole for anyone convicted of three separate violent offenses, was rendered moot when the state abolished parole altogether for anyone convicted of a crime committed after Jan. 1, 1995.
A tougher "three-strikes" law, which took effect in July of 1994, allows Virginia prosecutors to procure life sentences for those convicted of a violent crime after having served time for two prior such crimes.
The Department of Corrections has no statistics on the number of inmates serving time under the provisions of the law, and according to the survey, it has been applied only rarely.
In one instance last month, Chesapeake Commonwealth's Attorney David Williams used Virginia's "three-strikes" statute to procure a life sentence for William L. Griffin, Jr. who was serving time on robbery and firearms charges when he stabbed a sheriff's deputy in the neck. Without the statute, said Williams, Griffin's maximum sentence would have been 20 years.
The federal "three-strikes" law was aggressively promoted during debate over the anti-crime bill in 1994. However, it has resulted in only nine convictions with another 24 cases pending, according to the survey by the Campaign for an Effective Crime Policy, a coalition of criminal justice officials that wants more emphasis placed on crime prevention programs.
Six of the 22 states that have passed ``three strikes'' laws since 1993 - Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Tennessee- have had no convictions yet, the survey said.
But it has been widely used in California, where it has led to the imprisonment of more than 15,000 offenders that will require $4.5 billion in prison construction over five years, the study found.
California's stringent law considers any of the state's 500 felonies - both violent and nonviolent crimes - as a third strike and has second-strike provisions for some crimes. The survey found that 85 percent of the second- and third-strike convictions were for nonviolent offenses.
``Before policymakers jump on the three strikes bandwagon, they should consider whether these policies are being adopted because they represent good crime control or good politics,'' said Walter Dickey, a law professor at the University of Wisconsin who authored the study.
Justice Department spokesman Bert Brandenburg contended the federal law is good crime control, saying President Clinton ``fought very hard to make `three-strikes-and-you're-out' the law of the land in order to put the most vicious criminals behind bars to stay.''
Brandenburg also disputed the survey's findings. As of July 31, he said, the federal law had brought 19 convictions and two plea agreements with another 13 cases pending.
Gil Kline, a spokesman for the group that conducted the survey, said that even if those numbers were correct, they still would be an ``infinitesimal'' portion of all violent crimes.
Most violent crimes fall under state jurisdiction.
California officials didn't immediately return a telephone call seeking comment.
The study also concluded:
* ``Three strikes'' law is still in a transition period as states grapple with voters' demands for reducing crime.
* The laws do incapacitate habitual offenders for a long time, but there is no hard evidence that they have had a deterrent effect on criminals. In fact, ``three strikes'' laws may provide an incentive for criminals with two prior convictions to be more violent - for example, killing a police officer to avoid incarceration on a third crime that could mean a life sentence.
* "Third-strike" defendants turn down plea bargains that could lead to life sentences, preferring to take their chances in court, thereby crowding jails and leading to early release of other offenders.
* Wide discretion in applying the laws raises questions of fairness. Blacks are being sent to prison more than 13 times as often as whites under the California law, for example.
The states that have ``three strikes'' laws and the number of convictions under them, according to the survey, are Arkansas, few or none; California, 15,000 convictions; Colorado, none; Connecticut, few or none; Florida, two prosecutions; Georgia, five convictions; Indiana, 10 convictions; Louisiana, few or none; Maryland, few or none; Montana, law takes effect next January; Nevada, few or none; New Jersey, none; New Mexico, none; North Carolina, none; Pennsylvania, none; South Carolina, two convictions; Tennessee, none; Utah, few or none; Vermont, few or none; Virginia, few or none; Wisconsin, one conviction, and Washington state, 63 convictions.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
LENGTH: Medium: 93 linesby CNB