“Three Strikes, You’re Out” Policy in the USA
ABD’de Suç İşlemeyi Meslek Haline Getirilenlerin Cezalandırılması Politikasi
Offenders have a tendency to become involved in subsequent criminal acts after they have been released from prison. In the evolution of public’s fear of crime, repeat offenders are significantly effective. A considerable proportion of the population in large cities has a fear of being victimized by some gunned assailant, sexual offenders, and even by serial killers because they believe the repeat offenders are released from prison too soon. At this point, current criminal justice agencies and policymakers are facing a dilemma in dealing with repeat offenders. On one hand, they have to generate an effective crime prevention policy to deal with repeat offenders and to reduce fear of crime in the public. On the other hand, they have to balance their public safety policies with the rights of criminals.
Empirical studies and high recidivism rate show that certain criminals specialize in offending, such as violent and nonviolent criminals. Legislators and practitioners, therefore, doubtlessly believe that criminals who start their criminal carriers at their early ages are more likely to specialize in certain crimes because of assuming that they have tendency for committing certain crimes, and with repeated acts they become experts. This study focuses on the background of American generated “three strikes you’re out law”, current policy, impacts of the policy and consequences of the policy.
Three Strikes, Recidivism, Repeat Offenders, Criminal Justice Policy.
Suç işleyenlerin cezaevlerinden tahliye edildikten sonra tekrar suç işleme eğilimleri oldukça yüksektir. Tekrar suç işleyenlerin halkın suç korkusun artmasına önemli ölçüde etkisi vardır. Büyük şehirlerde nüfusun yüksek oranı, suçluların cezaevinden hızlı tahliye edildiklerine ve kendilerinin silahlı saldırı, cinsel suç gibi hatta seri katiller tarafından mağdur edilme ihtimallerinin olduklarına inanmaktadır. Bu noktada, mevcut ceza adalet kurumları ve politika yapıcılar tekrar suç işleyenlerle ilgili bir ikilemle karşı karşıya kalmaktadır. Yetkililer bir yandan tekrar suç işleyenler ile başa çıkmak ve halkın suç korkusunu azaltmak için etkili bir suç önleme politikası oluşturmak zorunda iken öte yandan, suçlu hakları ile kamu güvenliği politikalarını dengelemek zorundadırlar.
Ampirik çalışmalar ve yüksek oranda tekrar suç işleme oranı belli suçluların şiddet içeren ve içermeyen suçlular gibi suç konusunda uzmanlaşmış olduklarını göstermektedir. Kanun yapıcılar ve uygulayıcılar, bu nedenle, kuşkusuz erken yaşlarda suç işlemeye başlayanların belirli suçları işlemekten eğiliminde olduğunu varsayarak bazı suçlarda uzmanlaşma olgusunun daha muhtemel olduğuna inanmaktadırlar. Bu çalışma da Amerika Birleşik Devletlerinde uygulanan “arka arkaya şahsa karşı üç suç işleyenlerin ömür boyu hapis cezasına çarptırıldığı kanun- three strikes you’re out” hakkında genel bilgi verdikten sonra, mevcut politika uygulamaları, politikanın etkileri ile politika sonuçları üzerinde durularak, mevcut politikanın gerekliliği tartışılmaktadır.
Arka Arkaya Şahsa Karşı Üç Suç İşleme, Tekrar Suç İşleme, Ceza Adaleti Politikası.
INTRODUCTION
Repeated offenders have a tendency to become involved in subsequent criminal acts after they have been released from prison and they present a high risk to the society. Repeat offenders are significantly effective in the evolution of public’s fear of crime. A considerable proportion of the population in large cities has a fear of being victimized by some gunned assailant, sexual offenders, and even by serial killers because they believe the repeat offenders are released from prison too soon. At this point, current criminal justice agencies and policymakers are facing a dilemma in dealing with repeat offenders. On one hand, they have to generate an effective crime prevention policy to deal with repeat offenders and to reduce fear of crime in the public. On the other hand, they have to balance their public safety policies with the rights of criminals.
Some research examined the offenders’ characteristics which are thought to be important to affect crime type. For instance, Armstrong and Britt (2004) claim that if any type of crime is attractive to an offender because of personality characteristics, same type of offenses might be committed to satisfy their personal desires. Their study shows that some types of offenses are more attractive to some offenders, while other crimes are less. They claim that knowing background characteristics of offenders are very useful to make any prediction of general criminal behavior.
1. BACKGROUND OF THREE STRIKES LAWS
In the U.S. 26 states have already legislated various laws under the label of “three strikes, you’re out” to rid society of offenders who have previously been convicted for serious offenses. Although some arguments revolve around the belief that these laws will control serious and violent offenders, many public policymakers, however, have extensively criticized the three strikes laws for their cost-effectiveness and fairness (Shichor & Sechrest, 1994). The critics have reportedly asserted that the three strikes policies were ineffective in reducing violent crime rates and caused an overcrowding in prison population heightening the correctional expenditures. Likewise, Applegate, Cullen, Turner and Sundt (1996) argue that citizen support to three strikes laws is high when citizens are asked general single-item questions, but lessens greatly when citizens are presented with explicit situations. The public would endorse three strikes policies for flexible applications and only the most serious offenders.
