Inmates at San Quentin State Prison joined inmates of the Correctional Training Facility in Soledad in participating in a three-day hunger strike to protest the enactment of California’s Three Strikes law. Volunteering in a peaceful hunger strike, inmates joined together on March 7, 8 and 9, the anniversary dates of the signing of the law, to bring awareness to the 16th anniversary.
In 1994 Governor Pete Wilson signed what has become known as California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out,” law. The law, touted as one of the nation’s toughest, has led to the sentencing of inmates to terms of 25-years-to-life for convictions of non-violent/non-serious felonies.
“There are lots of reasons why I participated in this hunger strike,” said C. L., an inmate at San Quentin. “I believe those of us who are incarcerated under this unjust law need to come together and show our solidarity. This hunger strike is probably crazy, but it needs to be used as a catalyst so the people of California can become aware that this bad law is costing them millions of dollars. The money that is being wasted to keep petty offenders in prison for 25-years-to-life could be better utilized to fund all the schools in California from K-12. No other states use the Three Strikes law like California does, and that alone ought to tell you how bad this law is. It’s ridiculous how much this three strikes law is costing California and I believe taxpayers need to know it.”
It costs $53,000 annually to incarcerate each person–$40 million altogether, said Terry Thornton, spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, in January.
Many of these three-strikers are now in their 40s and 50s, costing the state even more for medical care than the rest of the younger prison population, and the costs are expected to rise steadily as these inmates require even more care as they get older.
“We needed to come together to let society know that a guy who committed a petty theft should not have to do more time than a murderer,” said D. K., another inmate at San Quentin. “The original intent of this law was to keep violent offenders locked up for longer periods, but now that you have thousands of petty felony offenders doing 25-years-to-life, it’s time for this law to be amended. There are guys who had possession of $10 worth of drugs and they are doing life sentences. It’s insane. We did this hunger strike to bring awareness and to bring about changes to this law. Society should question itself when a person commits a non-violent/non-serious felony and they have to do more time than someone convicted of murder.”
