It's not the old ball game: Three Strikes and the courtroom workgroup*

Abstract

In 1994 California enacted legislation commonly known as “Three Strikes.” According to the conventional wisdom concerning the effect of “get tough” sentencing enhancements, the most draconian provisions are undermined by prosecutors, judges, and defense attorneys, who resist the changes in the “normal” way of doing business. The research reported here uses data derived from interviews and surveys of courtroom members, and finds that Three Strikes has significantly disrupted the efficiency of the workgroup and has made the prediction of case outcomes difficult.