In short, prosecutors often decide who will go to prison for a long period of time, regardless of the will of the voters. It gets even a little stranger. Though many states initially stripped judges of any discretion under habitual offender laws, the courts pushed back. For example, a case in California (People v. Romero) ended up with the California Supreme Court declaring that trial courts have discretion to dismiss or strike prior strike allegations in Three Strikes cases, either on the court’s own motion or on motion of the prosecutor (even over the prosecutor’s objection). Stated more bluntly, trial judges can creatively thumb their noses at three-strike law requirements. [More]
There’s only one law that should matter with violent habitual offenders.
