JaimeeLynn
10-29-2004, 07:48 PM
This is the latest in scare-tactic, media showboating by our governor and the wackos before him (Gray Davis). We have GOT to talk to these people who are easily swayed and "star-struck" by our governor (actor). We have 4 MORE DAYS LEFT, PEOPLE!!!
Posted on Fri, Oct. 29, 2004
Governors unite to oppose change to three-strikes law
MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - In a striking show of political unity,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and four of his
predecessors are urging voters to reject Proposition
66, a proposal on the November ballot that would roll
back aspects of the state's three-strikes sentencing
law.
Schwarzenegger and former Govs. Gray Davis, Pete
Wilson and Jerry Brown stood shoulder to shoulder at a
downtown hotel Thursday and warned Californians that
they would witness a potentially deadly surge in crime
if the proposal becomes law. Former Gov. George
Deukmejian sent a statement echoing their concerns.
"It's a rare event when all five governors come
together in opposition to a proposition. But we are
strongly opposed ... because if Proposition 66 passes,
crime will go up," said Davis, a Democrat ousted by
Schwarzenegger last year.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said that "all of the
evidence shows that the three-strikes laws get
violent, dangerous criminals off the streets and keeps
them behind bars, where they belong."
Proposition 66 "would take the teeth out of the three
strikes law and favor the criminals instead of the
victims," the governor added.
The bipartisan front of governors - Brown is a
Democrat, Wilson and Deukmejian Republicans - added
fresh evidence that the fight over Proposition 66 was
emerging as one of the most hotly contested issues on
the state ballot, which features 16 propositions.
It was Schwarzenegger's second major event keyed to
stopping the proposition within a week, his political
committee has donated at least $1 million for
advertising and he's also urging voters to reject it
in TV spots running around the state.
Big money is pouring into the campaign. Orange County
billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III has put up $1.5
million to fight Proposition 66, while fellow
billionaires George Soros and John G. Sperling have
each kicked in $500,000 to help pass it.
The three-strikes law was established a decade ago
with the support of nearly three of four voters. But
recent polls have found that residents might be ready
to reconsider, although significant numbers remain
undecided.
Proposition 66 would make several significant changes
to criminal law. First, it would require that the
maximum 25-to-life term be imposed only if a felon's
third conviction is "serious or violent," such as
murder, rape or kidnapping. Under existing law, anyone
convicted of a felony - including shoplifting - after
having been convicted of two serious or violent felony
crimes, would get at least a 25-year-to-life term.
The proposal would also make thousands of inmates
eligible for resentencing, if their so-called third
strike doesn't meet that new criteria.
Supporters say the change would restore fairness to a
sentencing system that, in some cases, punishes minor
offenders with what can amount to a lifetime sentence.
The governors' opposition "is just business as usual -
politicians banding together to resist a popular,
needed and common sense reform to please a powerful
special interest, the prison guards union," said Sandy
Harrison, a spokesman for the campaign supporting the
change, Yes on 66.
"People know that rapists deserve stiffer sentences
than shoplifters, and it doesn't matter at all if the
politicians tell them differently," Harrison said.
There has been disagreement over the number of inmates
that could be freed under the change - ranging from
about 4,000 to more than six times that number.
Even some of the governors appeared to have different
ideas.
Schwarzenegger has said 26,000 could be freed, an
estimate by state district attorneys. But Davis said,
"We may not know exactly how many violent criminals
and serious offenders will be released early from
prison."
Brown, a Democrat now serving as Oakland mayor, said
"There are killers, known to our police department,
that will be cut loose." Brown said half of
three-strike offenders would be released, but didn't
provide a number.
Posted on Fri, Oct. 29, 2004
Governors unite to oppose change to three-strikes law
MICHAEL R. BLOOD
Associated Press
LOS ANGELES - In a striking show of political unity,
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and four of his
predecessors are urging voters to reject Proposition
66, a proposal on the November ballot that would roll
back aspects of the state's three-strikes sentencing
law.
Schwarzenegger and former Govs. Gray Davis, Pete
Wilson and Jerry Brown stood shoulder to shoulder at a
downtown hotel Thursday and warned Californians that
they would witness a potentially deadly surge in crime
if the proposal becomes law. Former Gov. George
Deukmejian sent a statement echoing their concerns.
"It's a rare event when all five governors come
together in opposition to a proposition. But we are
strongly opposed ... because if Proposition 66 passes,
crime will go up," said Davis, a Democrat ousted by
Schwarzenegger last year.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, said that "all of the
evidence shows that the three-strikes laws get
violent, dangerous criminals off the streets and keeps
them behind bars, where they belong."
Proposition 66 "would take the teeth out of the three
strikes law and favor the criminals instead of the
victims," the governor added.
The bipartisan front of governors - Brown is a
Democrat, Wilson and Deukmejian Republicans - added
fresh evidence that the fight over Proposition 66 was
emerging as one of the most hotly contested issues on
the state ballot, which features 16 propositions.
It was Schwarzenegger's second major event keyed to
stopping the proposition within a week, his political
committee has donated at least $1 million for
advertising and he's also urging voters to reject it
in TV spots running around the state.
Big money is pouring into the campaign. Orange County
billionaire Henry T. Nicholas III has put up $1.5
million to fight Proposition 66, while fellow
billionaires George Soros and John G. Sperling have
each kicked in $500,000 to help pass it.
The three-strikes law was established a decade ago
with the support of nearly three of four voters. But
recent polls have found that residents might be ready
to reconsider, although significant numbers remain
undecided.
Proposition 66 would make several significant changes
to criminal law. First, it would require that the
maximum 25-to-life term be imposed only if a felon's
third conviction is "serious or violent," such as
murder, rape or kidnapping. Under existing law, anyone
convicted of a felony - including shoplifting - after
having been convicted of two serious or violent felony
crimes, would get at least a 25-year-to-life term.
The proposal would also make thousands of inmates
eligible for resentencing, if their so-called third
strike doesn't meet that new criteria.
Supporters say the change would restore fairness to a
sentencing system that, in some cases, punishes minor
offenders with what can amount to a lifetime sentence.
The governors' opposition "is just business as usual -
politicians banding together to resist a popular,
needed and common sense reform to please a powerful
special interest, the prison guards union," said Sandy
Harrison, a spokesman for the campaign supporting the
change, Yes on 66.
"People know that rapists deserve stiffer sentences
than shoplifters, and it doesn't matter at all if the
politicians tell them differently," Harrison said.
There has been disagreement over the number of inmates
that could be freed under the change - ranging from
about 4,000 to more than six times that number.
Even some of the governors appeared to have different
ideas.
Schwarzenegger has said 26,000 could be freed, an
estimate by state district attorneys. But Davis said,
"We may not know exactly how many violent criminals
and serious offenders will be released early from
prison."
Brown, a Democrat now serving as Oakland mayor, said
"There are killers, known to our police department,
that will be cut loose." Brown said half of
three-strike offenders would be released, but didn't
provide a number.