The rationale behind the passage of three strikes legislation by the U.S. However, three strikes legislation appears to have modestly influenced crime reductions in some states (Kelly & Datta, 2009). Recent studies have indicated that these laws have not yielded results consistent with the initial hype. Now that sufficient time has passed since the first three strikes law was implemented, more detailed longitudinal analyses have been published. Regardless, early research studies were only able to analyze month-to-month trends and were largely confined to samples in one state (Stolzenberg & D’Alessio, 1997). However, many researchers attribute much of the phenomenon to preexisting trends independent of legislation, asserting that a comprehensive decline was observed in the 1990s throughout North America (Eskridge, 2004, pp. Ostensibly, early reductions in overall crime rates served as justification for three strikes advocates.
states have enacted or augmented similar mandatory sentencing laws and habitual offender statutes (Dickey & Hollenhorst, 1999). Subsequently, the federal government and most U.S. Three strikes laws have gained national popularity since the landmark passage of California’s “Three Strikes and You’re Out” sentencing guidelines in 1994. This popular legislative response to crime may be in need of revision, specifically regarding the scope of punishable offenses.
However, the decline observed nationally was not proportional to the scope of variations in three strikes laws and the impact on correction institutions has been minimal.
Results indicated that mandatory sentencing was associated with declines in some areas of crime. It addresses the effect of three strikes law on crime trends and prison populations therein. This paper assesses the impact of three strikes legislation in California and Washington two states which have implemented uniquely divergent forms of mandatory sentencing. With the benefit of hindsight, it is possible to trend their impact through longitudinal analysis. The efficacy of three strikes laws has been a topic of contention among researchers since the first such piece of legislation was implemented in the United States nearly two decades ago.
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