A recent court ruling gives renewed hope to prisoners sentenced under the nation’s harshest Three Strikes law.
The May 3 ruling overturned James Calloway’s 2001 sentence of 25 years to life for failing to comply with California’s Sex Offender Registration Act – his third strike.
Calloway appealed, arguing that a Superior Court judge had erred in classifying his 1993 assault as a strike. The judge had relied on transcripts and records to determine that the assault inflicted great bodily injury upon his victim, but a recent federal decision ruled that a judge must rely on facts found by the jury.
The decision, which reversed Calloway’s second strike, may have implications for a number of California’s prisoners. CDCR records show that more than 5,858 second strikers and 1,091 third strikers have strikes for assault.
Recently, a San Quentin inmate name LaQuan Hayes was sent back to court under a similar issue that Calloway found his relief under.