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Three Strikes Law Research Paper

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Three Strikes Law Research Paper
Jordan Lopez
CRJ 4603
Professor Banasco
02/20/16

Midterm Paper
Describe and explain the three strikes law? And how do they affect incarceration rates? Beginning in the early 1990s, states began to enact mandatory sentencing laws for repeat criminal offenders. These statutes came to be known as "three strikes laws," because they were invoked when offenders committed their third offense. By 2003 over half the states and the federal government had enacted three strikes laws. The belief behind the laws was that getting career criminals off the streets was good public policy. However, incarceration of three strikes inmates for 25 years to life would drive up correctional costs. The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld three strikes laws and has rejected
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