On 2/20/2020 12:16 AM, John B. wrote:

snip

Wasn't California a state that instituted the "3 strikes and you're
out" thing where habitual criminals were kept in jail?
--
cheers,

John B.

Like many laws, it was a poorly thought out, feel-good law. It created
tremendous prison over-crowding, keeping many people in prison that were
no threat. One person received a life sentence for his third
strike--stealing a piece of pizza from a group at a birthday party in a
pizza place, even though he asked one of the kids for a slice and the
kid nodded yes. The kid said that he was scared and prosecutors said
that it was "robbery by intimidation."

The 3 strikes law resulted in another poorly thought out law, Prop 47,
that allowed habitual criminals to not go to prison in an effort to
comply with federal mandates to reduce prison over-crowding. It has led
to a wave of retail theft and car break-ins
https://www.independent.org/news/news_detail.asp?newsID=1247.

Go to a department store or a drug store these days and it's almost like
back in the olden days where a shop employee has to get you the
merchandise. And we're not just talking about liquor or smart phones,
we're talking about Tide detergent, bicycle accessories, ibuprofen,
sometimes even candy. It's locked up
https://sacobserver.com/2018/01/shoplifting-is-to-blame-for-locked-up-items-not-walmart/.