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Criminal Procedure Keyed to Ohlin
Ewing v. California
Citation:
538 U.S. 11 (2003)
ProfessorScott Caron
CaseCast™ – "What you need to know"
Facts
California’s three strikes law reflects a shift in the State’s sentencing policies toward incapacitating and deterring repeat offenders who threaten the public safety. The law was designed to ensure longer prison sentences and greater punishment for those who commit a felony and have been previously convicted of serious and/or violent felony offenses. On parole from a 9-year prison term, petitioner Gary Ewing walked into the pro shop in Los Angeles County on March, 2000. He walked out with three golf clubs, concealed in his pants leg. He was convicted of theft and sentenced to 10 days in the county jail. Ewing is no stranger to the criminal justice system. He was convicted of several crimes during the past decades and only 10 months later from the most recent charge of a crime, Ewing stole the golf clubs at issue in this case. As required by the three strikes law, the prosecutor formally alleged and the trial court later found that Ewing had been convicted previously of four felonies. Ewing was sentenced under the three strikes law to 25 years to life.
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