Three strikes off base.

• Position: Stateline - Three-strikes law, California - Brief Article

California's three-strikes law is under attack by public defenders who argue that in many nonviolent cases the punishment is often too extreme. They cite cases such as the man who got life imprisonment for shoplifting a screwdriver, an electric razor and a map from Kmart, or the homeless man who got 25 years for breaking into a restaurant and stealing four cookies. They are boosted by a federal appeals court ruling last November that a 50-year prison sentence for a videotape thief was cruel and unusual...