A new ballot initiative is headed for a vote in 2012 to curb life sentences for non-violent crimes.
The measure was drafted by the Stanford University School of Law Three-Strikes Project after its review of cases similar to the type that the initiative targets – following modest relief from the courts and receiving support from several sentencing reform groups, the 2012 measure was drafted.
Wording for the ballot initiative was submitted to the California Attorney General’s Office on Oct. 21. The proposed inititive would:
Not allow anyone previously convicted of rape, murder, child molestation or other heinous crimes to appeal their life terms.
Restore the Three-Strike Law to what initiative supporters say was the public’s original understanding by requiring life sentences only when a defendant’s current conviction is for a violent or serious crime.
Establish that repeat offenders convicted of non-violent, non-serious crimes such as shoplifting and simple drug possession will receive a non-life sentence.
The supporters of the measure have secured at least one major financial backer, David W. Mills, a former investment banker and Stanford law professor.
The initiative’s official sponsor is the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund.
The Stanford group also has hired San Francisco political consultant Averall “Ace“Smith to lead what is expected to be a fiery campaign.
The initiative reform measure is vastly different from past changes in the law.
In 1996 the first change in the Three-strikes Law came when the state Supreme Court ruled that judges were not mandated to sentence every defendant to a life term after being struck out. The court ordered that trial judges must review every case prior to sentencing a defendant to 25-years to life, regardless of the defendant’s current or prior convictions.
The coalition took lessons from 2004’s failed Proposition 66, which would have limited third-strike convictions to serious and violent crimes, but did not disqualify offenders with previous murder, rape or child molestation convictions. Opponents, including two former governors and current Gov. Jerry Brown, used that difference to turn public opinion against Proposition 66. Opponents said it would result in tens of thousands of dangerous criminals being released from prison.
To qualify for the ballot the initiative needs 504,760 signatures of registered voters. Political consultant Bill Zimmerman, who submitted a proposal to steer the campaign, estimated that organizers need about $10-15 million to win.
If voters approve the initiative, backers believe that about 3,000 of the 4,000 nonviolent third-strikers currently serving time in state prisons could be eligible for resentencing. They say that could save the state $150 million to $200 million a year.