Life in prison for stealing food

[annia]

The New Yorker did a lengthy & excellent piece on the California law
years ago. As far as I can remember, the guy that killed Polly Klaas was
a repeated violent offender who had been furloughed to relieve prison
overcrowding after they passed mandatory minimums for drug possession.
In other words, a violent felon was released to make room for people
caught with a nickel bag of pot. Then he killed a little girl. I believe
Polly's father later spoke out against these kinds of policies, either
mandatory minimums or the three-strikes law, I can't remember which.
What was the documentary that you saw? Was it the Frontline piece?

annia

Jordan Hayes wrote:
> 
> What's strange about the California 3 Strikes law is how it all came
> about.  It started as a backlash against the guy who killed Polly
> Klass, but turned into almost a comedy of errors and hijacked
> intentions.  The other night I saw a documentary about the whole
> process, and I'm just as confused as ever about it.  I think the urge
> to make sure that 3rd-time violent offenders go to jail and stay there
> is straightforward enough; but the details surrounding which crimes
> count as strikes and the meddling in the discretion of judges is
> troubling.
> 
> /jordan