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Out Of Step: When The California Street Terrorism Enforcement And Prevention Act Stumbles Into Penal Code Limits, J. Franklin Sigal
Out Of Step: When The California Street Terrorism Enforcement And Prevention Act Stumbles Into Penal Code Limits, J. Franklin Sigal
Golden Gate University Law Review
This Comment focuses on how the multiple-punishment prohibition of section 654 applies to the enhancements of one particular California statute: the Street Terrorism Enforcement and Prevention ("STEP") Act, a piece of anti-gang legislation passed in 1988 in the wake of rampant gang-related violence in the Los Angeles area. Specifically, this discussion centers on the imposition of multiple gang-enhancement provisions on a single defendant who engages in a single crime spree. If section 654 does apply to gang enhancements, then the prosecutorial practice of attaching them to every criminal charge in an indictment violates the intent of this Penal Code section, …
Career Criminals Targeted: The Verdict Is In, California's Three Strikes Law Proves Effective, Naomi Harlin Goodno
Career Criminals Targeted: The Verdict Is In, California's Three Strikes Law Proves Effective, Naomi Harlin Goodno
Golden Gate University Law Review
This Article reviews the impact of the Three Strikes law over the last decade and concludes that, based on data that have been collected and the manner in which the law has been applied, it has proved effective. The first section of this Article explores the history behind the legislation and the law itself. The second part of this Article sets forth three reasons why the Three Strikes law has proved effective: (1) The Three Strikes law is carrying out its goals by incapacitating career criminals and deterring crime. Since its enactment California's crime rate has dropped, and, for the …
California's Foul Strike: A Single Act Punished With Two Strikes, Dawn Philippus
California's Foul Strike: A Single Act Punished With Two Strikes, Dawn Philippus
Golden Gate University Law Review
This Note first provides an overview of the Three Strikes law, and explains how a court determines sentence enhancement under the Three Strikes law. Sections III, IV, and V describe the facts, procedural history, and the California Supreme Court's rationale for upholding the appellate court's decision. Section VI of this Note critiques People v. Benson, and the majority's conclusion that the language of the Three Strikes law is sufficiently explicit to allow enhancement of a sentence based on a conviction stayed pursuant to a statutory prohibition against punishing an act or omission under more than one penal provision. Section VI …
California's Antistalking Statute: The Pivotal Role Of Intent, Christine B. Gregson
California's Antistalking Statute: The Pivotal Role Of Intent, Christine B. Gregson
Golden Gate University Law Review
Since 1990, prosecutors have learned that in order to effectively protect victims, antistalking laws must be broad in scope, carry substantial penalties, and pass constitutional muster. Convicted stalkers have repeatedly attacked the law as unconstitutional. All such challenges have failed. However, the California legislature has clarified and strengthened the antistalking law through a series of revisions over the past eight years.s Today, the antis talking law is broad in scope and has repeatedly passed constitutional scrutiny. However, the level of intent that the antistalking statute currently requires could pose problems for prosecutors by allowing accused stalkers to escape liability by …
Tougher Prosecution When The Rapist Is Not A Stranger: Suggested Reform To The California Penal Code, Allison West
Tougher Prosecution When The Rapist Is Not A Stranger: Suggested Reform To The California Penal Code, Allison West
Golden Gate University Law Review
This article advocates changes to existing California statutes to better protect the rights of victims of nonstranger rape. As this article will show, the mere happenstance that a victim knows her rapist too often changes the dynamics of the prosecution and the perception of the victim. Section II of this Article discusses the differences between stranger and nonstranger rape, looking specifically at the psychological factors that distinguish the victims of each type of crime. Section II also focuses on the nonstranger rape victim's difficulty in reconciling that the randomness of the violence against her is absent compared to the victim …