California lawmakers believe that the common citizen should be as protected from the police as possible. The creation of search and seizure laws is one of the steps lawmakers have taken to make sure that your Fourth Amendment rights are protected. Not only are the...
California’s famous three strikes law was created in 1994 and received voter approval. The murder case of Polly Klaas and Kimber Reynolds was the catalyst for implementing the three-strikes law.
Kimber Reynold’s life was brutally ended in 1992 during an attempted mugging. One of the muggers pulled a gun, placed it against Kimber’s ear, and pulled the trigger before fleeing the scene. Kimber later passed away in the hospital.
A man by the name of Douglas Walker was arrested for his involvement in Kimber’s murder. Walker was able to avoid a life in prison sentence by striking a plea deal. It was quickly revealed that Walker had a history of committing violent felonies. Walker’s violent history prompted Kimber’s dad to start persuing and lobbying for the three-strike law.
In 1994, Polly Klaas was having a great time with friends at a slumber party when she was kidnapped. For two months, the police searched for answers. Polly’s body was eventually found in a shallow grave. She’d been strangled.
Richard Allen Davis was arrested and charged with both the kidnapping and the murder of Klaas. During his trial, it became obvious that Davis also had an extensive history of crime that included assault, attempted sexual assault and kidnapping, abduction, and armed robbery.
Kimber Reynold’s father includes Davis in his lobbying attempt for the three-strikes law. He quickly pointed out that had there been a three-strikes law in effect before the early 1990s, both Kimber and Polly would be alive.
When California’s residents voted on the three-strike law, they were told that if the law passed, it would keep murders, rapists, and others who had a history of violent felonies behind bars. While this has happened, it also turns out that many of the people who have had sentences impacted by the three-strike law aren’t guilty of violent crimes and are actually being forced to serve 25 years in prison for relatively minor offenses.
A common misconception people had with the three-strike law when it was originally enacted is that the person impacted by the law has been convicted of the same crime on three separate occasions but that’s not the case. In many situations, the individual has been convicted of three different crimes. An example of this would be someone who has a felony drug conviction, a felony grand theft conviction, and a felony bribery conviction.
In 2012 California residents decided that the three-strikes law had gone too far and they enacted the Three Strikes Reform Act (also called Proposition 36) which tweaked the original three-strikes act so that nonviolent felons didn’t have to spend the better part of their natural life behind bars.
When the Three-Strikes Reform Act was passed, more than 1,000 prisoners were released. The best news is that of these 1,000 freshly released prisoners, only two percent were later charged with a new felony crime.
The way that the three-strikes rule currently works is that anyone who is convicted for a grand total of three violent felonies sentence will be automatically extended. The extension is anywhere from 25 additional years to life in prison. It’s important to understand that the 25 years is added to the original sentence.
While most people are familiar with the three-strike rule, few realize that there is also a two-strike rule which automatically doubles the sentence of anyone who is convicted of a violent felony crime a second time.
The list of convictions impacted by the three strike law include:
When you think about it, you don’t often hear about pickpocketers these days. It’s not because pickpocketing is no longer a problem, but because crimes involving pickpocketers are either given different names and because they seldom generate any media attention. According to the CBS affiliate in...
Don’t assume that just because you didn’t actively participate in a burglary that the items taken during the burglary won’t get you into trouble. They likely will.
It doesn’t really matter if you hold stolen items in your garage while your friend finds a fence, if you’re gifted a stolen television, or if you purchase stolen goods, if those items are found in your possession, you could find yourself facing a charge of receiving stolen property in California.
The topic of receiving stolen property in California is dealt with in PC 496. It states that:
A surprising number of people think that obstruction of justice is something the writers of procedural shows made up in order to correct plot holes. While it’s true, obstruction of justice is an overused plot device, it is also a real thing. If you live in California, there are a few things you should know about the state’s obstruction of justice laws.
One of the interesting things about obstruction of justice in California is that the state doesn’t have a specific obstruction of justice crime. Instead, it’s a blanket term that’s used to describe a variety of offenses that are commonly referred to as California’s obstruction of justice laws.
Official offenses that are considered forms of obstruction of justice include:
High-speed car chases happen all over the country, yet whenever people hear about a high-speed chase, they automatically assume it took place in California. That’s because California, and more specifically, Los Angeles, is considered the Car Chase Capital of the World. There are a few reasons...
Earbuds are awesome. They provide you with a way to tune out all the noise connected to the world and lose yourself in music, white noise, audiobooks, and podcasts. The earbuds fit snugly into your ear so that you don’t have to worry about anyone...
GoFund Me has been a wonderful tool. It’s allowed people, non-profit organizations, and more to quickly raise money for important causes and emergencies. While many great things can be said about GoFund Me, as always, there’s also a dark side. Shortly after GoFund Me started...
Every single year, approximately 7.5 million Americans become the victims of a stalker. If you suspect that you’ve attracted the attention of a stalker you must remain calm while simultaneously taking steps to protect yourself. Don’t Dismiss the Threat One of the biggest mistakes many stalking victims...
Electricity is one of those things you don’t appreciate until you suddenly find yourself in the middle of a blackout. The good news is that there are some things you can do to make sure you’re ready the next time the power goes out, even...
Do you spend a lot of time biking in California? If so, there are some California bike laws you’re probably not familiar with.
The threat of your young child disappearing when they go back to school is far greater than you imagine. According to Child Find of America, approximately 2,300 children are abducted every single day in the United States. The National Center of Exploited and Missing Children reported that in 2020, an estimated 1 in 6 missing children were victims of sex trafficking.
Stranger danger and abduction prevention lessons are something you and your children should always be working on. With the start of school just around the corner, now is the time to sit down with your child and review everything they know about stranger danger and staying safe.
While you’re shopping for school supplies, use this time with your child to review the rules you should already have in place regarding accepting rides from strangers. The rules your child should already be familiar with include: