Dirty high water retreat by judicial terrorist scum.
http://www.infoshop.org/inews/stories.php?story=02/02/08/2773336
Calif. Court Weakens 3-Strikes Law
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - In a serious blow to California's three-strikes law, a
federal appeals court has ruled that life in prison for shoplifting is
cruel and unusual punishment.
Thursday's decision by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of
Appeals (news - web sites) is expected to overturn the sentences of 340
people serving life terms for shoplifting. It also may spark appeals from
inmates serving life for other nonviolent offenses in California, one of a
number of states where ``three-strikes'' laws permit long sentences for
criminals convicted of a third felony.
The California law is the harshest of those repeat offender statutes. It
lets judges sentence defendants to 25 years-to-life for any felony
conviction if they have already been convicted of two serious or violent
felonies. A serious felony could include burglary of an unoccupied house or
shoplifting.MORE...inc comment.
