Three Strikes Not the Answer - NY TIMES

Three members of a prominent Cheshire, Conn., family were slain in their home in July after being held hostage for hours. The gruesome murders, and the arrests of two career criminals out on parole for the crime, have left Connecticut residents justifiably outraged. More than 42,000 people have signed an online petition advocating that their state pass a “three strikes and you’re out” law to force judges to impose lengthy sentences on criminals convicted of three felonies. That is the wrong solution, for Connecticut or any state.

There’s no question that what befell Jennifer Hawke-Petit, and her two daughters Hayley and Michaela, was horrific. The state’s mishandling of the two parolees accused of the crime only compounds the horror.

Joshua Komisarjevsky and Steven Hayes have long criminal records. Mr. Komisarjevsky has 21 felony convictions, and Mr. Hayes has 17. The Board of Pardons and Parole released Mr. Komisarjevsky despite having woefully incomplete information. That happens routinely in Connecticut, where for 10 years absurd fights over which department should pay photocopying costs kept criminal records from being shared. Had board members read the judge’s characterization of Mr. Komisarjevsky’s actions as “predatory” they might never have released him.

The appeal of a “three strikes and you’re out” law is understandable, but these laws have proven to be blunt instruments that cause more injustice than they prevent. In California, which has a particularly draconian law, a man who shoplifted $153.54 worth of videotapes was sent to jail for 50 years. These laws are not only overly harsh. They are enormously expensive, because of all of the prison cells that are needed to warehouse minor criminals who pose little threat to society, many of whom are elderly by the end of their sentence.

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