In California, if a person commits two felonies that are classed as ‘serious’ or ‘violent’, and then go on to commit a further serious felony, they will be given a life sentence. It’s a law stemming from a tough crackdown on crime in the 1990s when a wave of crime in the state caused public outcry and was used by politicians determined to respond in kind.
In theory, it would keep the most dangerous offenders away from society, but in practice it has served to swell California’s prison system, with tens of thousands of people locked up for life for committing petty crimes. Just like David Coulson who tells the Guardian’s Sam Levin how he ended up in jail after stealing just $14.
Sam tells Hannah Moore that while Coulson’s case sounds extreme it is far from an isolated one. And campaigners are gathering to call for reform. Including from what may be unlikely sources: Annie Nichol and her sister Jess tell Sam that the murder of their sister Polly was one of the cases cited by politicians including Bill Clinton in the 90s and used to toughen punishments for violent crimes. They are now part of the campaign to reform these draconian laws.
• This article was amended on 16 January 2023. An earlier version said the third offence under California’s Three Strikes Law could be “any other crime, no matter how small”. When it was introduced in 1994, the Three Strikes Sentencing Law required the third offence to be a felony; the law was amended in 2012 to require the third offence to be a serious or violent felony.
