Life in prison — for stealing a leafblower

It’s long past time for California to rethink their criminal justice system. Prop 34 Death Penalty & Prop 36 Three Strikes are on the November ballot.  I like to think that people are waking up and realizing that what is currently in place is not working and was never designed to work.

Here is yet another example of how Three Strikes has been applied- unfairly and unjust.

By ELAINE LEEDER

The main entrance way to San Quentin State Prison.

ERIC RISBERG / Associated Press

Life in prison is unpleasant, to say the least.

To be there when you have done little to deserve it makes it particularly hard. And to expect to remain there for the rest of your life, without the possibility of parole, is almost unimaginable.

I know people for whom this is the reality. Having met many who are three strikers, I always assumed that they had committed three felonies and were there for good reasons. Then I met folks for whom this is not true.

I know a man at San Quentin State Prison, for example, who has done 17 years in prison so far for stealing a $100 leaf blower. This was his third felony, the other two were both drug possession, all non-violent crimes. Yet this man was sentenced to life imprisonment because it was his third strike under California’s three strikes law.

Enacted in 1994, this law requires a sentence of 25 years to life for someone who has committed three crimes, even non-violent ones, and has either served time for the previous crimes or committed felony petty theft. Crimes committed as youths can be counted among the three.

As a result, one person was incarcerated for stealing a piece of pizza and another for stealing golf clubs. The man who stole the leaf blower has never been violent but nevertheless sits in prison, costing us $46,000 a year, because of his crime. He was in the country legally and was working and raising a family at the time.

He is a model citizen in prison. He is well respected by his peers, has never had an infraction while incarcerated and makes sure to work and participate in regular rehabilitation programs in the hope someone eventually will see the injustice of his sentence and the fact that he has made amends.

The California Innocence Project has taken up his case in the hope it can help bring about a just result. It is obvious that this type of sentence is cruel and unusual punishment, which the U.S. Constitution forbids, and needs to be overturned. We can only hope that the criminal justice system begins to use its resources more justly and more wisely, given the overkill we see in this case. I know this man: He is not a criminal who needed to be incarcerated for 17 years for such a small crime. Where is the justice here?

I also know a woman who was the warden at San Quentin and who presided over two executions. She is now working to overturn the death penalty because she believes it is cruel and inhumane. We are the only Western society that still has the death penalty. In fact, we are listed with China, Zimbabwe, Iran and Iraq as one of the few countries in the world that still has the death penalty. Is this the company we want to be in?

If you want to learn more about issues such as this, as well as the death penalty concerns, attend a public forum on Oct. 14 from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Congregation Shomrei Torah, 2600 Bennett Valley Road, Santa Rosa. You can have an impact this election day, so please become more informed on three strikes and the death penalty.

Elaine Leeder is the dean of the School of Social Sciences and a professor of sociology at Sonoma State University and has recently published her latest book, “My Life with Lifers: Lessons for a Teacher, Humanity Has No Bars.” She has worked for more than 15 years at Elmira Correctional Facility in New York and at San Quentin State Prison.

Via @ PressDemocrat

 

 

 

Related articles

• Californians debate death penalty as vote to end it nears (sacbee.com)
• After 18 Years of “Three Strikes,” Are Californians Ready for a Change? (prisonreformmovement.wordpress.com)