it had been in the 1970s (Heglin 213). (Data from the Federal Bureau of Investigation showed that crime had increased throughout the 1980s, but the FBI only records reported crimes. The more reliable National Crime Victimization Survey, conducted by the Department of Justice, records actual crimes, and the NCVS indicates that violent crime peaked in 1973 and has leveled off since.) So what prompted this perception?
Several high-profile cases helped popularize the notion that crime ran rampant in our streets, and that repeat offenders were causing much of the problem. Most notably, in June 1992 an ex-felon murdered Kimber Reynolds while attempting to steal her purse, setting Kimber's grieving father, Mike Reynolds, on a crusade for a Three Strikes Law. Reynolds enlisted two judges to write the proposed legislation, and another high-profile murder, that of 12-year-old Polly Klaas, helped vault the Three Strikes Law into California's political mix (Vitiello 410-411).
An outraged public demanded action, and California's legislature, which had brushed off Reynolds' previous attempt, moved in lockstep. Though many legislators described Reynolds' law as poorly drafted, most feared the political steamroller and quickly passed it. Legislators recognized that failure to act promptly would be used against them in that year's election campaign. Eight months later, the electorate passed Proposition 184 by a margin of 72 to 28 percent (Vitiello 411-423).
Meanwhile, the most recent figures indicate that the crime rate has fallen nationwide by 15 percent from its high in 1980. Moreover, the national murder rate is down 27 percent from 1980 (Beres and Griffith, Georgetown Law Journal 105). California also experienced a decline in crime, although comparing the figures is difficult because the NCVS does not break down its data by state. Thus, California's numbers are based on the less reliable FBI data. Nonetheless, California experi...