Three Strikes Law There Are Numerous Problems

Three Strikes Law There are numerous problems associated with the prison system in the state of California. More than a few of these problems are directly caused by the state's infamous Three Strikes legislation -- in which individuals who receive three felonies are sentenced to 25 years to a life term in prison.

In codifying the problems related to the state's prison system as identified by the essay written by the politician who was eligible for reelection, it becomes apparent that the most salient of these are the huge expense associated with quartering so many prisoners, overcrowding, and a lack of rehabilitation. In 2010, the state spent a total of nearly 8 billion dollars to quarter, feed, and provide healthcare for prisoners, which represents a 12.2 percentage of costs outside of the state budget (Vera, 2012).

These budgetary constraints are due in large part to the fact that the prisons are egregiously overcrowded, with the state's prisons at close to 200% capacity in 2011 (Skolnick, 2011). Additionally, the amendment to the Three Strikes law as provided by proposition 36 (which was passed in 2012) demonstrates how ineffective the current prison system is in reforming prisoners. This amendment enables prisoners convicted of third strike that is not serious or violent to not receive a 25 to life sentence. It is telling that since Proposition 36 was passed, crime in California has slightly increased.

Additionally, the politician's essay reveals the fact that frequently incarceration is a place in which criminals can congregate and refine their tactics and strategies for future criminal endeavors. The policy change that I would implement for prisoners sentenced under the Three Strikes Law who have reached the age of 60 is that once they have reached their 60th birthdays, they can attend rehabilitation and reform programs which -- upon condition if they can pass -- will enable them to be paroled within three years' time.

The nature of this program, which will be voluntary, will be partly corrective and partly a training program to endow prisoners with marketable job skills and general survival skills to teach them to manage independently in the world today. Prisoners must demonstrate that they can get along with one another in an orderly, productive fashion while taking classes that teach them skills related to computers, technology, and other basic skills related to jobs today.

Prisoners must demonstrate a degree of punctuality and a conformity to standard normative behavior that is no-aggressive and honest while learning the essential techniques they will need to live independent of a prison system. They will also enroll in the Affordable Health Care Act (which provides cheaper health insurance) (Ireland, 2001) (cite) and take basic culinary classes. Subsidized housing options will also be presented to them so that they can obtain a means to support themselves.

This policy change will another amendment to the Three Strikes law and would be filed under Proposition 37. The information I can provide to the community and the state legislature to implement such a policy will be related to the aforementioned problems discussed earlier in this document. I would include information about the soaring costs associated with incarcerating prisoners, especially in terms of health which is more expensive for individuals 60 years old and older.

I would also provide information about the overcrowded California penal system, as well as cite information stating the unsanitary aspects of this situation -- which has been linked to suicide (Rodriguez, 2013) and the hazard to prisoners. I would also include information about the rate of recidivism for prisoners (67.5%) (Yeung, 2010) due to the fact that they are not rehabilitated while incarcerated. The advantages of this policy would be the fact that the California penal system would have another method of systematically reducing its prison population, which at present is egregiously overcrowded.

In doing so, it would also be able to reduce the amount of money that it currently spends on housing prisoners. Additionally, by training prisoners to re-integrate with society successfully and to earn a living for themselves, the state could also be earning funds from taxing the wages of these former prisoners.

Finally, it is worth noting that since most prisoners would be transitioning back into society at an age in which they are nearly senior citizens, the likelihood of their committing any sort of serious or violent crimes is greatly reduced. These are a host of advantages which directly address the most eminent problems associated with California's current prison population, which attests to the efficacy of this program. More jobs would be provided by those who would be required to go in and provide instruction to prisoners.

The disadvantages of this program include the fact that some prisoners might not be able to handle living independently in society. There is always the likelihood that no matter how old someone is or how well rehabilitated he or she seems in jail, that such a person may revert back to his or.