Block Says ‘Three-Strikes’ Law Has Made Streets Less Safe
Sheriff Sherman Block said Wednesday he believes law-abiding citizens “are less safe as a result of the ‘three-strikes’ law than we would be without it.”
The Los Angeles County sheriff said so many lesser offenders have had to be released early from jail terms to make way for alleged “three-strikes” suspects awaiting trial that the number of criminals on the streets has grown.
Under the “three-strikes” law, people who have convictions on two felonies face jail terms of 25 years to life if convicted of a third offense.
Rather than accept plea bargains as was often the case before “three strikes,” many suspects have been choosing to demand trials, clogging the courts and waiting long periods in jail before the trials begin.
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