Norman Williams found out first-hand how tough California’s "Three Strikes" laws can be: after twice being convicted on felony burglary charges, the Long Beach native was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for stealing a car jack and tools from a tow truck. Under normal circumstances, his last offense would have been classified as petty theft while the value of the items stolen should have made the crime a misdemeanor offense. Williams, however, had had a long history of drug abuse and a criminal record beginning with burglary at age ten.
With such an egregious criminal history, the famous "Three Strikes" laws bumped Williams’ relatively minor charges up to felony status, paving the way to his third strike. Thanks to efforts from a fledgling Stanford University law school program, Williams’ sentence was reduced to just 10 years. Since Williams had already served 13 years of his original sentence, he was released from Folsom State Prison on April 24th. With two standing felony convictions, Williams is currently working with a job training program in Northern California and trying to stay out of further legal trouble.
The "Three Strikes" laws have been controversial since their inception. As a "tough on crime" program, the laws effectively sentence criminal offenders to 25 years to life in prison for three felony offenses. In an attempt to protect Californians from violent repeat criminal offenders, the "Three Strikes" laws also reduce prison credits for good behavior and can enhance penalties for two or more felony criminal offenses. The laws also provide provisions allowing multiple criminal acts performed in conjunction to be counted as separate offenses. For example, burglary with a firearm that results in bodily injury to someone and the theft of more than $400 in value could be charged as several distinct crimes, allowing the defendant to rack up several "strikes" in one set of legal proceedings. Felony criminal offenses are nothing to take lightly in California as they can land you in a state prison for the rest of your life.
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