The third conviction could serve as the third strike for California's anti-recidivism statute, thereby triggering a minimum 25-year sentence. Andrade was convicted of both counts of petty theft and was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life in prison. After exhausting his appeals in the California legal system, Andrade filed a petition for habeas corpus, arguing his sentence violated the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment because it was disproportional to the underlying crime. The United States District Court for the Central District of California rejected Andrade's petition, but the Ninth Circuit agreed with Andrade on appeal. The State of California sought review of the Ninth Circuit's decision, and the Supreme Court ultimately resolved the dispute in favor of the state. Basically, the Court announced that it was not enough for a state court to err when applying an anti-recidivism statute; instead, without using those words, the Court almost suggest that a lower court would have to act with malice in order to make a defendant eligible for habeas review. What this decision makes clear is that there is no type of constitutional protection for repeat felons.
Not only has the Court sanctioned states' abilities to impose enhanced sentences on repeat offenders, but it has also sanctioned states' rights to have jurors determine the severity of a crime. One would imagine that a person's punishment would be determined solely by looking at the crime. However, mandatory punishments have fallen into disfavor. The whole reasoning behind degrees of murder has been to establish the level of criminal culpability that a defendant had when taking a human life. Moreover, in Gregg v. Georgia, 428 U.S. 153 (1976), the Supreme Court approved Georgia's death penalty statutes, which permitted juries to impose the death penalty after convicting a defendant, if they found the presence of one or more aggravating factors. Aggravating factors could include things such as the prior or simultaneous commission of another crime, killing for money, or killing a government official (428 U.S. 156). However, what is the most interesting is that the perceived level of depravity or evil of the crime could be considered by the jury, absent any other evidence of extraneous criminality.
How and why did society become so convinced of the entrenched criminality of convicted felons? While it may seem like an assumption that has existed throughout time, the reality is that the idea of the born criminal really only began to really take shape in the early 19th century, with its strong emphasis on social Darwinism. Social Darwinism suggested that "in the struggle between strong and weak, the fittest survive, procreate, and pass on their traits and (superior) characteristics" (Winfree and Abadinsky, 2003, p.34). Social Darwinists did not necessarily distinguish between individuals and groups or countries. One of the things suggested by Social Darwinists is that criminality was genetic, which would make rehabilitation difficult, if not impossible. Moreover, if criminality was genetic, then it stood to reason that some races were more likely to engage in criminal behavior than other races. It should come as no surprise that, in the United States, which was confronting a changing relationship between the races at the turn of the century, Social Darwinism was considered a good, scientific explanation for continuing disparity between the races. Even today, some people argue that African-Americans are incarcerated in disproportionate numbers because they offend in disproportionate numbers. However, Social Darwinism was used by the Nazis to justify extermination of the Jews, and not only discouraged its use in social sciences, but also discouraged many people from examining genetic links for criminality for many years (Weiler, 2007, p.4391).
While it is probably apparent that most convicts are not the types of monsters that one associates with criminals who cannot be rehabilitated, it is equally obvious that some criminals are almost certainly beyond rehabilitation. Take, for example, the phenomenon of serial killers. Of violent and dangerous felons, serial killers, who tend to kill multiple people who lack any prior relationship to the killer, are probably the most frightening and dangerous-seeming group, despite the fact that one is much more likely to be murdered by a friend or family member than by a serial killer. However, the very fact that these killers murder for enjoyment or to fulfill some type of psychological need, separates them from the more average felon.
There are stories about people killing for enjoyment that predate modern times. Vlad Tepes and Elizabeth Bathory are only two of the historical mass murderers that might be considered serial killers in modern times. Moreover, because only recently have accurate record keeping and criminal investigation made it easier to identify where and when serial killers are active, if not necessarily to apprehend those killers. This study of serial killers has taken them outside of the realm of the criminally insane, where it is highly likely serial killers lurked for several centuries prior to the serial killers coming to the...
Productivity-Education/Craft/Trade -- a key to being able to stop the return to the penal system is to provide training necessary to allow the individual to find work after leaving prison. Not only is it extremely tough to get a job as a convicted felon, but the skills necessary to get a job that will afford a decent living are tough to get in prison. Earning a degree either online or
The refusal to extend the vote, as well as all of the other rights prohibited to ex-felons, really denies them the chance to begin their lives again as fully integrated citizens of their city, state and country. The irony is that while the disenfranchisement laws negate the application of some rights for the ex-felons, the laws don't negate other obligations that are a part of citizenship. For instance, ex-felons who do
, et al., 2012). Systems approaches look towards the functional integration of different stakeholders and their goals towards a specific issue or path. What implications might a proposed solution have and to what groups? What is the functional relationship between groups of stakeholders and how can that be maximized. For returning felons, this approach looks at ways to construct programs that are utilitarian in context (the greatest good for the greatest
The right to vote is one of the fundamental rights of every American as entrenched in the U.S. Constitution. However, millions of Americans have been stripped of this right with many being denied this right for the rest of their lives. One of the groups that have been stripped of the right to vote is convicted felons. Most of the existing state laws bar convicted felons from voting even after
Rehabilitation of Felony Offenders Possible? Desirable? As the global economic downturn continues to adversely affect federal and state budgets across the board, one of the hardest hit areas has been the nation's penal system. Dwindling budgets have caused layoffs and cutbacks in many prison systems, and many facilities are at their limit already with no end to the steady stream of felons in sight. Unfortunately, even when they are released,
According to Hammond, "Studies show there is a 40% chance that burglaries and other nonviolent crimes are being committed by someone who already has committed a violent crime, perhaps even murder" (p. 12). Other useful applications that have been identified for DNA analyses include resolving missing or unidentified people cases and the U.S. Department of Justice continues to collaborate with state and local law enforcement agencies for these applications. Beyond
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