three strikes laws

Within the field of criminal law, there are many nuances and specific policies that I must begin to master in and gain knowledge of if I want to be successful. One of the areas that really interests me is the Supreme Court (state and federal), and the way it deals with punishment for crimes. Although it is best that the legislators doing the legislating stay separate from opinions of judges in the highest court in the country. The Supreme Court of the United States has set many precedents, and although these do not set the law, they can be very useful in applying it and what it exactly means.

In the article, this phenomenon is referred to as Platonic Guardians. A quote from 35 years before the decision in Ewing, Justice Hugo Black articulates a deep skepticism of the limits of judicial competence to decide contested issues of criminal justice policy and a preference to leave issues to local decision making. “This Court, instead of recognizing that the experience of human beings is the best way to make laws, is asked to set itself up as a board of Platonic Guardians to establish rigid binding rules upon every small community in this large Nation.... It is always time to say that this Nation is too large, too complex and composed of too great a diversity of peoples for any one of us to have the wisdom to establish the rules by which local Americans must govern their local affairs. The constitutional rule we are urged to adopt is not merely revolutionary--it departs from the ancient faith based on the premise that experience in making local laws by local people themselves is by far the safest guide for a nation like ours to follow.”

More specifically, this entire case is based off the Three Strikes, You’re Out law, which has been implemented in several states in order to keep repeat criminal offenders out of the streets, and therefore the general public safe. Some of the state’s with a stricter policy, such as California, have encountered the Supreme Court in a battle of constitutionality. This pertains to me and my topic of study, because these are law that I should begin to become familiar with. It is also a major facet of the criminal justice system that has been universally disagreed upon, whether people are in support or opposing it.

By understanding these basic principles; reading through a case and its proceedings, thinking logically and without as much bias as possible is a very crucial skill that I am going to have to work on if I keep pursuing this field. The specific Supreme Court proceedings are also applicable because they deal with the Eighth Amendment, a body of writing in which I am getting more and more familiar with. In order to defend criminal appropriately, I must know all sides to the law as effectively as possible. I definitely agree with the affirmation that the Three Strikes law is not “cruel and unusual” in most cases. The beauty of the American criminal justice system is that individuals can be tried as individuals, innocent until proven guilty. However, in order to be the most effective possible, career criminals must be dealt with.