Comment from David A., and response

Dear Alicia,

I want to commend you on the article you wrote "When it comes to justice, it's personal." I also don't believe in the three strikes becoming a law.

I am a convicted felon, and my crimes were due to my addiction to pain medication. The crimes were possession of narcotics and larceny(a bad check). Already having a felony for possession when I issued a bad check, I was willing to pay restitution and any court costs. When I went to court the sentence was one year suspended sentence and pay back restitution, one year probation and not to enter the grocery store where the check was used. I would have gone to jail for life because it was my third offence.

I had a good work history, twenty years service with the state of Connecticut and seven years at a food processing plant. Now I can't find employment because of my past record.

I wish that Connecticut was like a few other states,where you don't have to put down in your application that you have a felony. There are a lot of people like myself that have been in recovery and have changed our lives around and have corrected the destruction due to our active addiction. The laws of this state act as a stumbling block for those of us that have made a bad choice, and corrected that choice and have become productive members of society. We do need another chance to prove ourselves.

David A.

*****

David,

I'm so glad you commented here. I've been watching the three-strikes law strike out for the past few months here in Connecticut and groaning every time it comes around again.

Maybe if I were a baseball fan, I would "get" what people are talking about when they say they're for this law -- but I doubt it.

You're not the only one who would have been bizarrely convicted under the three-strikes felony law: according to attorney Michael Fryar at Lawisfun.com,

"[The three-strikes law] has had some odd results in California – Gary Ewing shoplifted golf clubs (Strike 1. Burglary, Strike 2. Robbery with a Knife), Leandro Andrade stole video tapes (Strike 1. Home Burglary, Strike 2. Home Burglary), Jerry Williams stole a slice of pepperoni pizza from some children (four previous non-violent felonies)."

So men have been sentenced under the three-strikes law in California for stealing videos and pizza. That doesn't sound like a strong recommendation to me.*

I wrote this column, and the one that will appear this Friday (6/27) in part because it seemed obvious to me that three-strikes laws are arbitrary (why three? Why not two or four or seven or ten?) and lazy (since it allows us to sentence each other to life in prison by the numbers, without using our heads) and against what we should focus on as a society that's supposed to be free.

But it was a letter to the editor published in one of the Herald-Press papers (I think The Herald, but I'll have to check on that) on April 18, written by a state representative and saying that after a certain point, enough is enough -- that some people are "simply evil" -- that made me actually sit down and write about three strikes.

I'm thinking about the adult students I taught in D.C., many of whom have multiple felonies on their records, and all of whom were trying to get their lives back on track -- to get an education, provide for their families and set good examples for their children. Some of them had been addicted to drugs, and some were raised in neighborhoods that encouraged criminal activity. None of them were "simply evil."

(And again, even if there were people who could be labeled as "simply evil" and cast off, there's no reason to believe that they suddenly reached the point of no return when they committed that third felony.)

I would like to see legislation dealing with the sorts of difficulties that you're describing in finding a job, post-conviction, though I'm not sure what form that would take. Most of my experience has been with people who had limited skills or education before their convictions, so most of their efforts were focused on getting the diploma or apprenticeship or certification that would help them break into a trade. For people like you, who already have skills and a strong work history, I'm not sure what the next step could be.

Ultimately, though, I'm not sure that legislation will help us. You can't write laws that force people to care. It seems to me that the best you can do is pass laws that don't discourage caring. And elect leaders who do care.

If you haven't already, David -- and anyone else who might be interested one way or another in the three-strikes laws, and the recently passed laws that step up sentencing for violent offenders (as an alternative to a traditional three-strikes law) -- I encourage you to write to your state representative or to Governor Rell about your experience, too.

I'm hoping that next time they propose three-strikes laws, or anything similar, they'll remember your letter and think again.

Thanks for sharing your experience here; please comment anytime. (And I wish you luck, and a job that suits you, soon.)

Alicia.

*Anyone looking for more information on how California's three-strikes laws have gone awry may want to start here. If a 35-page essay doesn't seem like a particularly accessible starting point, read the abstract on page 2. (You'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to see this .pdf file.)