Striking Out at O.C. Republicans

The major attempt to rewrite the California three-strikes proposition, which was struck down by the state Supreme Court because it limited the sentencing discretion of judges and required that anyone convicted of three serious felonies receive a 25-year-to-life prison term, is spearheaded by Orange County Republican politicians.

Especially active in this respect are state Sen. Rob Hurtt and Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle, both of them from Garden Grove. There is an ongoing criminal investigation concerning the Republican scheme to put a “spoiler” Democrat on the ballot in the 67th Assembly District in last year’s election. Since then, Assemblyman Scott Baugh, who was elected, and several Republican staffers, among them Pringle’s top aide, have been investigated and were indicted or were named as “unindicted co-conspirators” in this scheme.

One must wonder whether these politicians would be so eager to reinstitute the three-strikes law if it would also cover the criminal offense of election fraud, an offense that strikes at the very heart of any democracy.

DAVID SHICHOR

Fullerton