Three-Strikes Law Goes on Trial

In “Voters Get Their Way on Three-Strikes Law” (Opinion, Aug. 26), Deputy Public Defender Alex Ricciardulli takes exception to a three-strikes law that puts people away for a crime “as banal as stealing a slice of pizza.”

It seems impossible for any opponent of the three-strikes law to raise the issue without citing this infamous slice of pizza. It was not a theft, it was a robbery.

The culprit took the pizza from a small group of kids eating at an outdoor table. He first tried to get the kids to turn over the pizza through intimidation. When the kids stood their ground, he took it from them and walked away. If Ricciardulli was the parent of those kids, I don’t think he’d consider a bullying confrontation with an ex-con a harmless episode.

This case has become part of California folklore. It seems to me that this is just the sort of person three strikes is supposed to protect us from. His actions are more than ample evidence that he wasn’t rehabilitated. None of us should lose any sleep over his incarceration.

Richard Murphy

Whittier

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Redemption is parole and demonstrating a change-of-life behavior. Three strikes and mandatory sentencings only open the door to injustice.

Revoking parole on one strike ends the repeat-felony-trial farce. Demonstrating rehabilitation and parole-worthiness is redemption. We won’t see justice without keeping the door to redemption open.

Michael E. Lawrence

Camarillo