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JUSTICES TACKLE "THREE-STRIKES" LAW Long Prison Sentences May be Cruel and Unusual Punishment By Shannon McCafrey, Night Ridder Newspapers, Reported in Las Vegas Review-Journal 11-04-02, P. 7A WASHINGTON - Gary Ewing was slapped with 25 years to life for sneaking out of a pro shop with three golf clubs stuffed down his pants leg. Shoplifting "Free Willy 2" and eight other videotapes worth $153.54 earned Leandro Andrade 50 years behind bars. Both men are repeat offenders sentenced under California's "three-strikes" law, which requires long prison terms for those convicted of at least two prior felonies. On Tuesday, the Supreme Court will examine whether the prison terms for minor offenses constitute cruel and unusual punishment. Other states will be watching the two cases with an eye toward how far they can go in punishing repeat offenders. Such measures were popular in the crime crackdown of the 1990s amid studies showing that a small number of criminals were responsible for a large number of crimes. The 1993 abduction and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas of Petaluma, Calif., by Richard Allen Davis, a twice- convicted kidnapper out on parole, inspired the California three-strikes law. About half the states followed suit. California's statute is thought to be the harshest in the nation because the third strike can be a less serious misdemeanor crime, such as petty theft. Lawyers for Ewing, 40, and Andrade, 43, said the sentences are unconstitutional because they are "grossly disproportionate to the crimes. "It's completely irrational to put someone in prison for life for shoplifting," said Erwin Chemerinsky, Andrade's lawyer. Andrade had five nonviolent felonies on his record, three for burglary and two for transporting marijuana, when he was arrested for stealing five children's videotapes from a Kmart in Ontario, Calif., in November 1995. Out on bond two weeks later, Andrade was caught stealing four more tapes from another Kmart, in Montclair, Calif. In November 2001, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled the sentence was "grossly disproportionate" and ordered Andrade be resentenced or released. The state appealed. Ewing had five felonies on his record, including several burglaries and one residential robbery in which he brandished a knife, when he was convicted of grand theft for stealing $1,200 worth of golf clubs from an El Segundo, Calif., golf course in March 2000. He had been out on parole for nine months. WORKING TOGETHER TO ATTAIN FAIRNESS | ||
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