‘Three-strikes’ fails to
lower crime rateThe issue: California's "three strikes
and you're out" sentencing law results
in an aging prison population but
not a drop in crime.HAWAII managed to avoid the "three strikes and you're out" fad of a few years ago, and the effects of the harsh sentencing requirement show the decision to have been wise. The three-strikes law in California has contributed to an aging prison population but has had no significant effect on the crime rate, according to a new study. A better strategy would be to require Hawaii's felons to serve most of the prison time prescribed in their sentences.
California voters enthusiastically passed the three-strikes initiative in 1994, believing that habitual criminals would be fearful enough of a potential throw-away-the-key prison term to turn them into law-abiding citizens. The law requires that those convicted of a third felony be sentenced to 25 years to life, while a second felony conviction is enough to warrant doubling of a sentence. As of May, California had sentenced 6,721 felons under the three-strikes law, and 43,800 under the two-strikes provision.
California's crime rate dropped by 41 percent from 1993 to 1999, but that reflected a national trend during a healthy economy. The crime rate in New York, which doesn't have a three-strike law, plunged by the same percentage. Hawaii's crime rate fell by 33.2 percent from its peak in 1995 to 1999.
"Crime had been declining for several years prior to the enactment of the three-strikes law, and what's happening in California is very consistent with what's happening nationally, including in states with no three-strikes law," said Marc Mauer, an author of the study by the Sentencing Project, a nonprofit research group.
One result of California's law is that prisons will be burdened with older inmates, although criminologists know that crime rates peak when offenders are young -- the late teens or early 20s -- and decline rapidly at later ages, according to the study. By the year 2026, 83 percent of California's prisoners will be 40 years of age or older.
Meanwhile, absurd applications of the three-strike laws continue. A twice-convicted burglar steals a pair of sneakers and gets 25 years to life. A homeless Los Angeles man faces the same time in the slammer after trying to jimmy the kitchen door of a church where a priest had given him food in the past.
Judges should have discretion in sentencing convicts who deserve such punishment. The problem in Hawaii is that felons too often serve only a small fraction of what judges hand down. A requirement that they serve at least 85 percent of their sentences would be a greater deterrent to crime while qualifying Hawaii, under a 1996 law, for federal funding for prison construction.
Attorney fees add
to special ed billThe issue: The state's cost of providing
for special education includes
payments to the attorneys.Although required to pay the fees of lawyers representing the children and their parents who sued the state over special education, the attorney general's office as well as the federal judge overseeing the case should be closely examining the legal bills. Not that any wrongdoing is taking place, but with the fees now totaling more than $1 million, fiscal responsibility demands scrutiny.
Figures provided to a special legislative committee investigating the cost of special education show that since 1995 Shelby Floyd has collected $880,000 and Eric Seitz $357,936 in attorney fees as representatives of Felix consent decree plaintiffs. Because it lost the suit, the state is required by federal law to pay the lawyers. In one instance, it found itself in the peculiar position of having to pay Seitz $9,049 to fight a subpoena from the committee while at the same time paying to defend it.
The attorneys' obligation is to assure that their clients' interests are protected. In that vein they objected to the subpoena of the court-appointed monitor because they felt he would be distracted from his task of bringing public schools into compliance. However, it seems that the committee's purpose, which is to examine whether special education funds are being used effectively, would certainly benefit the lawyers' clients.
State Sen. Colleen Hanabusa, co-chairperson of the committee, properly questions whether the subpoena expenditure is justified. She believes there should be a distinction between compliance-related costs and those involving the committee.
The amounts the attorneys have been paid don't appear to be out of line. Floyd told Star-Bulletin reporter Richard Borreca that half of her billings come from meetings with school and health officials. Seitz's bills show that he charges $200 an hour, which he says is below his normal rate.
The Attorney General's Office acknowledges that it doesn't review each billing statement, but leaves it to U.S. District Judge David Ezra, who oversees the case, to approve or disapprove payment. Ezra should be attentive to the costs and, just as Seitz and Floyd look after their clients' interests, so should the attorney general look after Hawaii's taxpayers.
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, President
John Flanagan, publisher and editor in chief 529-4748; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.com The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
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