Tweet
Government [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]senator[/COLOR][/COLOR] proposes three strikes regime 
Friday, 27 June 2008 
One government senator is suggesting that persons convicted of three or more gun crimes spend the rest of their lives behind bars.
Dennis Meadows brought the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]proposal[/COLOR][/COLOR] to the senate where the state of [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]the [COLOR=blue! important]nation[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] debate continued Friday.
Mr. Meadows suggested that with just under 900 homicides since the start of the year and calls for drastic action against crime, the time has come for a repeat offenders' law.
Mr. Meadows noted that the vast majority of crimes in [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] are committed by people who have already run afoul of the law.
The government senator was quick to tackle the obvious issue which would arise from any plan to send more people into the already overcrowded prisons.
He cited the U.S. state of California as an example.
"The 10 years prior to the enactment of the Three Strikes Law the California prison population expanded by 400% and for the 10 years after there was an increase of only 25.5% a massive decrease," he said.
But the so called three strikes law is not without opposition in the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]United [COLOR=blue! important]States[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] where at least 22 states have adopted similar statutes.
While the law was originally intended to stop violent offenders, opponents say many of those sentenced after three strikes are non violent offenders.
They also argue that the sentencing guidelines tend to be unnecessarily harsh, punish harmless petty criminals and result in overcrowded prisons.
Friday, 27 June 2008 One government senator is suggesting that persons convicted of three or more gun crimes spend the rest of their lives behind bars.Dennis Meadows brought the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]proposal[/COLOR][/COLOR] to the senate where the state of [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]the [COLOR=blue! important]nation[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] debate continued Friday.
Mr. Meadows suggested that with just under 900 homicides since the start of the year and calls for drastic action against crime, the time has come for a repeat offenders' law.
Mr. Meadows noted that the vast majority of crimes in [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]Jamaica[/COLOR][/COLOR] are committed by people who have already run afoul of the law.
The government senator was quick to tackle the obvious issue which would arise from any plan to send more people into the already overcrowded prisons.
He cited the U.S. state of California as an example.
"The 10 years prior to the enactment of the Three Strikes Law the California prison population expanded by 400% and for the 10 years after there was an increase of only 25.5% a massive decrease," he said.
But the so called three strikes law is not without opposition in the [COLOR=blue! important][COLOR=blue! important]United [COLOR=blue! important]States[/COLOR][/COLOR][/COLOR] where at least 22 states have adopted similar statutes.
While the law was originally intended to stop violent offenders, opponents say many of those sentenced after three strikes are non violent offenders.
They also argue that the sentencing guidelines tend to be unnecessarily harsh, punish harmless petty criminals and result in overcrowded prisons.
Comment