Three Strike Law

Essay by Pugsley08University, Bachelor'sA+, February 2004

download word file, 15 pages 4.4

Downloaded 215 times

Crime is viewed as one of the biggest problems in the United States of America. Americans fear for their safety. Their fear is often caused by dramatic media coverage of violent crimes. Even though, statistics show that violent crimes have been declining since 1991, more and more people are afraid of being victimized than ever before. The question that came to my mind right after reading these statistics, is how come more and more people are afraid of crime if it has been declining? The answer wasn't hard to find, because it was right in front of me. The media, who makes everything so dramatic, in order to make sales, is one of the people to blame for our fear of being victimized. Another reason is that our information resources have gotten so superior it allows us to find out what happens in another part of the world in instant seconds through the Internet.

Although many people argue that it is good that we can find out anything right away, I would argue that it creates paranoia.

So while violent crime rate has been going down for over a decade, many people have been jumping on a wagon to claim the responsibility for this great achievement. One of the reasons that many people use to describe crime decline, is giving credit to the controversial "three strike" law and the deterrent theory. People advocating for three-strike law use deterrence theory, and argue "if we make the punishment for crime more unpleasant, fewer people will commit crime." Criminal law and criminal justice system have some general deterrent effect. The law defines the boundaries of acceptable behavior and specifies the consequences of crossing those boundaries. However, what many do not realize is that law and Justice system are only two factors that...