California Enacts Three Strikes Law

California enacted Proposition 184, the Three Strikes and You're Out law, mandating 25-years-to-life for any felony conviction if the defendant had two prior serious felony convictions. By 2004, over 42,000 people were sentenced under the law; Black defendants were incarcerated at a rate 12 times that of whites under Three Strikes. Critics noted minor third offenses triggering life sentences.