New study shows 3-strikes would have little impact
Given that the legislature has voted to return in a special session this upcoming January to discuss the legislative proposals to fix the criminal justice system, the “state” asked Central Connecticut State University to conduct a study on the impact a three strikes law would have had in CT.
The study, which examined the murder convictions in 2004, found that out of the 49 convictions in the State, only 6 of the defendants would have been subject to a three-strikes law. The study also showed that 60 percent of the 49 people convicted of murder statewide in 2004 had no record of previous violence.
“I don’t know that there is a proposal that would have stopped what happened in Cheshire,” said the study’s author, Stephen Cox, chairman of CCSU’s Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. “Common burglars just do not turn into murderers who sexually assault people.”
The study’s results do not necessarily mean a three-strikes law has no value, experts said; six of the convicted murderers could have been in prison for life under California’s three-strikes law, and they wouldn’t have gotten the chance to kill.
“As a policy analyst, I’d say that’s a small number,” Cox said. “But as a victim advocate, I’d say it’s huge.”
The study found that 28 of the 49 murderers had been arrested at least three times before killing someone but mostly for nonviolent crimes or petty offenses.
Twelve, nearly 25 percent, had never been arrested before. About half the murders involved domestic violence.
It would be impossible to predict who of the general population, without a record, is going to commit a murder. The question then becomes, do we focus on the 3% that would have come within a 3-strikes law or the 50% that wouldn’t?
“A three-strikes law will make us feel better,” state Rep. Gail Hamm, D-Middletown, said during a special Judiciary Committee public hearing last month. “But it won’t address the revolving-door criminals. What are we going to do with the people who are getting in and out (of prison) all the time?”
Hamm also touched on the unpredictability of homicide.
“Anybody can walk into anybody’s home at any time and kill them,” she said.
Still, it is common for people to believe they can predict and prevent tragedies, experts said.
“The notion that you can predict events based on someone’s behavior through legislation is mythic,” said Todd Fernow, a professor at the University of Connecticut School of Law and director of the school’s Criminal Law Clinic. “It comes from a natural human tendency to believe you are in control of things.”
“There’s no silver bullet that’s going to give us the accuracy we’d like to have and the public would like to see us have,” said William Carbone, head of the state’s Court Support Services Division.
Stephen Cox misses the point entirely. The issue is not whether we lock up all burglars for extended periods of time, but whether the state can identify a subset of burglars who pose a special threat. Clearly, people who repeatedly break into dwellings at night when people are in them are extremely dangerous criminals.
First, there’s always the possibility of confrontation with someone like me, who would rather die than have his children know that I wasn’t brave enough to not leave them at the mercy of someone coming into our home.
Second, there’s the complete control aspect. Once in, and in control, the burglar can do whatever the hell he wants to the family. That is a temptation far too great.
Third, at some point, people who simply break into occupied dwellings need to be permanently removed from society. Or at least removed until they are broken old men.
Home invaders are dangerous criminals. If you don’t think so, then let them break into your house when you’re asleep. There should also be a law that allows a homeowner to shoot a home invader in his home, no matter what. Even if the home invader surrenders.
Please pass this on to anyone you think can help!
Monday, Dec. 17, 11:30 am – Parole Ban Protest outside main office of CT Board of Pardons & Parole – Waterbury – 55 West Main St (organized by NH Coalition to End the Parole Ban).