Held Behind Walls In Katrina's Wake

Held Behind in prison in Katrina's Wake, They Also Serve Convicts at Bogalusa, La., Provide Hurricane Relief; Warden's Chainsaw Gang

BOGALUSA, La. -- James Cox plunged his scarred, rough hands into the ice bucket to fish out two bottles of Gatorade and handed them to Tammey Duncan. A resident of devastated Washington Parish, she was waiting in line at the emergency-aid station in an industrial park here.

Mr. Cox, a prisoner for nearly 30 years, is serving time for armed robbery at the Washington Correctional Institute. In the past two weeks, though, he has also been a first responder, one of dozens of inmates in orange jumpsuits who have been driving forklifts, clearing debris and handing out food and water to people living here near the Mississippi line.

As Louisiana digs out from Hurricane Katrina, convicts have been opening roads with axes and chainsaws and doing other useful work. At Angola State Penitentiary, near Baton Rouge, inmates produced mattresses for shelters. Some prisoners have even donated money from what little they are paid so evacuees can buy postage stamps.

"I've been a thug since 1966, and this feels good," said Mr. Cox, a brawny, tattooed 53-year-old. "When people come up and you look into their faces and see all the sadness, and then they thank you like you are the one giving this stuff to them, it makes you tear up."

Opened in 1983 to house 500 inmates, the Washington Correctional Institute now holds 1,200 men, most here on drug charges, and it employs 418 people, making it one of the largest employers in the parish.

Since Katrina struck, this medium-security prison 70 miles north of New Orleans has sent scores of inmates every day with corrections officers to work in the parish. The jobs don't pay well -- 20 cents an hour, at best. But unlike the vast majority of the 43,900 people of this parish, the prisoners go back at day's end to hot showers, warm meals and electric lighting.

All of the prisoners who have been helping are "trusties," men who are given special privileges -- like getting to leave the prison grounds under supervision -- because of their exemplary disciplinary records.

The hurricane has resulted in neither riots nor escapes. Because the prison is surrounded by dense, forbidding woods, running away isn't much of an option. Indeed, since Katrina hit, the Louisiana state prison system has been relatively peaceful despite moving 8,000 inmates from prisons damaged by the hurricane to 13 different facilities.

In large part, that's because some of the prison authorities, such as Warden James Miller here at the Washington Correctional Institute, were a lot better prepared for the hurricane than state and federal authorities were.

On Aug. 29, the morning Katrina's eye passed about 30 miles east of here, prisoners huddled in the dorms watching the horizontal rain, listening as the gravel on the roof whipped off and shattered windshields a half-mile away. Heating units were torn off the buildings. About that time, two 10-foot-high fences topped with razor wire were breached by the storm.

While most inmates were locked in their cells, one crew of officers and trusties rushed to turn off a leaking main gas line. Fifty others, standing in the rain and wind, raised and welded the downed fence that confines them. As the storm began to subside, Warden Miller, who lives on the prison grounds, sent six crews of inmates and corrections officers out. Their instructions were to clear one lane on all the main roads in the parish.

As the men made their way out among downed power lines and roads littered with fallen trees, a radio call came in asking for help clearing the road to the emergency management center in Bogalusa. Another team from the prison headed that way with their axes, hatchets and saws to cut and move the downed trees from the roadway.

Mr. Miller, 50 years old, had his own personal emergency management plan in place. He had backup generators with a stockpile of fuel. The prison was already equipped with one of the largest food-storage facilities in the parish. It was so well stocked there was no chance food would run out and the prison was able to help out the school system, which had food in danger of spoiling.

The warden's biggest concern was gasoline to power the generators. As soon as the storm passed, Mr. Miller pulled out the satellite phone he had reserved for such emergencies and called Richard Stalder, the state's corrections chief, to arrange for additional fuel supplies. Mr. Miller has been able to give each of his workers 10 gallons of gas every two days so they can drive to work. Others, including a few officers, stayed over at a makeshift shelter on the prison grounds. "This isn't the kind of place where you can just let everybody take off work -- I've got to have them here," Mr. Miller said.

It has been hard for many inmates to grasp what has been happening outside the prison. About 85% of the inmates here are from the New Orleans area, and they had no access to news reports until the warden videotaped a newscast and played it on the prison's television system.

The TV rooms were silent as inmates crowded in. Darrell Johnson, 49, who has been here nine months for a parole violation, was watching the screen when he saw his neighborhood, then recognized his street and family home, all underwater. "I'm just hoping everybody got out safe," he said of his two brothers and two sisters. "You can't call because of the phone situation here, and there's no sense in writing a letter. The mail ain't got nowhere to go. I have no idea what shelter they went to or even what city they might be in."

Pausing while he moved pallets of baby formula, Keshawn Patterson, 27, said, "We can't help our familie ... At least doing this, helping, it takes your mind off it for a while."

A challenge for the prison is finding the families of prisoners who are soon to be released. The institute has already located the families of 180 prisoners and will continue to make calls and to use the Red Cross and other means to try to find them. The state still needs to figure out how to keep track of inmates on parole or probation should they leave Louisiana -- and to coordinate with other states.

Meanwhile, to keep operations here normal, Mr. Miller hasn't canceled regular visiting days. And letters will go into the files of inmates who have helped out in the hurricane relief effort, intended to help the men when they come up for parole.

Write to Gary Fields at gary.fields@wsj.com

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By Gary Fields posted 19 September 05

Related:

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Bush Expected to Visit Storm-Ravaged Areas
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Parkin charged $11,700 for detention and removal

Los Angeles Friday, 16 September, 2005 : American peace activist Scott Parkin arrived back in the US today, escorted by 2 Australian immigration officials. He is expected to arrive in Houson, Texas on a Continental Airlines flight at around 3pm AEST.

After being detained for 5 days, alone in a Melbourne detention centre for being a suspected "national security risk", [scapegoat for the resource wars in the Middle East.] Scott was handed a bill for almost $A11,700.

It included $A4,235.03 for his airfare back to LA and $6,675.39 for the return airfares of his two corrective services escorts as well as their accommodation in Los Angeles. The five-day stay at the Melbourne Custody Centre will cost him another $777

The 36-year-old Texan history teacher says he was made to feel like a terrorist and a criminal and remains baffled as to why six police officers "snatched him off the street" as he left a Melbourne cafe last Saturday.

"I'm just completely baffled by all of this," said Parkin, surrounded by Australian TV cameras and media, said soon after his arrival at Los Angeles international airport.

Parkin was in Australia as part of a six-month holiday in Australia, New Zealand and Asia. He arrived on June 1.

The activist was also banned from entering Australia for three years and the Australian visa in his passport was stamped with: "NOT FOR FURTHER TRAVEL".

He plans to fight his removal from Australia and is desperate to find out why authorities were concerned about him.

"I'd love to know the assessment in which the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) made of me to lock me up for five days in solitary confinement and then remove me from the country essentially forcibly," Parkin said.

In contrast to Scott's treatment in Australia, he encountered no problems from US officials on arrival at LA airport - "The US Customs were extremely friendly," he said.

Parkin plans to be vocal in the US about his detainment in Australia and removal.

Asked about how he now felt about the Australian government he replied: "I'm not going to go into that too much, but I don't have very high regard though".

Parkin warned the incident raised great concerns about freedom of speech in Australia and the US.

"I think we are seeing a crisis in freedom of speech and freedom of expression in Australia, the United States and lots of places and people need to be aware," he said.

An activist for 15 years, he said he gave talks while in Australia about the war in Iraq and helped organise one protest against US energy company Halliburton.

"In the talks I gave I wasn't even openly critical of Australia," Parkin said.

"I was being openly critical of the US occupation (of Iraq) and I was being openly critical of Halliburton."

While he was not happy with the treatment he received in Australia, he said his passage through US immigration and customs at LA airport today was a breeze.

It was just after finishing breakfast at a cafe in the Melbourne suburb of Brunswick last Saturday when a shocked Parkin saw six police officers.

"I had just finished breakfast when I had just walked out," Parkin said.

"I talked to them for a minute and said 'Hey, I'm a peaceful person. I'm passive. I'm not going to give you any trouble'.

"They said 'OK', so we went to a local police station where an immigration officer interrogated me."

Parkin said authorities never made it clear why he had been arrested.

"They were very vague," he said.

"They said I violated sections of the migration act and they said I was a direct or indirect risk to their national security."

Parkin was housed alone in a jail cell that contained two concrete slabs to sleep on, a TV set and a sink.

"They gave me three couch cushions and three really crummy blankets and fed me three times a day," he said.

Parkin will be met by friends and colleagues when he arrives at Houston airport in Texas later today.

"Scott is committed to nonviolence. In Australia, he was advocating for peace and protesting corporate greed. Why is peaceful protest and corporate accountability a threat to national security? It appears they're using national security as an excuse to silence dissent," said Maureen Haver, Scott's roommate in Houston and member of the group Houston Global Awareness.

Parkin's supporters in the US have been calling and protesting outside the Australian Embassy in Washington, DC with the following demands of the Australian Government:

1) Fully disclose why they have labeled Scott Parkin a threat to Australia's national security.

2) Drop all allegations against Scott and apologize for his detainment.

3) Commit to refrain from similar human rights violations in the future.

By greenpeace 16 September 05

Related:

Government out of control on security: Wilkie
Australia: Canberra Thursday, 15 September, 2005 : Former intelligence analyst Andrew Wilkie today staunchly defended US peace activist and teacher, Scott Parkin, saying that the government's national security agenda is out of control.

Australia, USA, Iraq: Scott Parkin
The rapid and widespread response to the detention of US peace and global justice activist, Scott Parkin, has been heartening and effective on many levels. Actions have taken place in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Cairns and outside several Australian Consulates in the United States.

Peace Activist Agrees to be removed but challenges security review
ATTENTION: CHIEFS OF STAFF - IMMIGRATION REPORTERS - LEGAL REPORTERS

Australia's fascist ideal: Proof
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Anti-War Extremists Loyal to Scott
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US Peace Activist to be Deported
Scott Parkin, a Texas based peace activist was detained by Federal police at approximately midday Saturday. He was en route to give a workshop about the progress and success of the peace movement in the US and companies profiting from the Iraq war.

Howard government threatens academic freedom
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'Different times' call for bill of rights, says QC'
To ensure no future government can erode basic human rights. Lex Lasry, QC, gave last night's key note address at the University of Western Australia's annual Day of Ideas.

Australia: a little dab will do ya .....
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The Terrorism of ASIO Laws
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Terrorgraph not quiet on 'Aussie militant' probe
AFP refuses to comment on investigation into militant video: hoWARd's abc.

Phillip Duddock's 'accent' heard in militant broadcast
Australian/Arab television has broadcast a video showing a masked militant with an apparent Australian accent criticising British Prime Minister tony bliar over Iraq.

HICKS: Not a Happy Birthday!
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GetUp! Stand Up! Stand Up For Your Rights!
Because of you, something exciting happened in our democracy last week. From every corner of the country, more than 20,000 emails were sent to the Coalition Senators. Our message was simple: now you have control of the Senate, we will be holding you to account. Thousands of you added personal messages to your representatives about the issues you care about.

Australia: We're Living In A War Zone
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All the alleged terrorists are Muslims
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All the wicked witches in Pakistan?
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Howard off to US, UK - part 5
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Houses raided over 'possible' political attack plans?
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Is this our most dangerous Newspaper?
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HOSTAGES OF THE WAR ON TERROR
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WAR ON TERROR, WAR ON HUMAN RIGHTS: AMNESTY
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Murdoch's war on truth in war reporting
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Chomsky signs on for justice
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If he'd been given his passport he'd be a free man
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Trial by unrelated video clips
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Accused Australian Citizen 'denied passport in 2002'?
AN AUSTRALIAN CITIZEN who was refused a passport by DFAT in mid-2002 became frustrated at the government for treating him differently.

Court should be told Gov't using 'Jack'!
A Melbourne court should have been told a man accused of working for Al Qaeda is being used by the fascist Australian Government as a pawn in their leverage to win support for their illegal and degrading activities.

Noble Cause Torture?
AUSTRALIA: The Labor Party has decided not to support a Senate inquiry into new allegations made by Mamdouh Habib that the Australian Government cooperated with Egyptian intelligence authorities who he insists tortured him.

New account adds weight to interrogation claims
Australia/Cuba/Iraq: The fascist Federal Government is under further pressure today because Australians were involved in the interrogation of tortured Iraqi prisoners.

Australian senate accused govt of war crimes
Did you hear the one about David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib having a Barbeque in Afghanistan with Bin Laden? Yeah it was reported on Channel Seven's Sunrise this morning! But they don't know if it was a sheep or a goat, but sources say it was most likely a goat.

DPP to appeal innocent man's bail
The Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) will seek to have an innocent Melbourne man Joseph 'Jack' Thomas, returned to isolation in custody?

Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
The fascist Federal Government has been exposed for the torture of Australian Mamdouh Habib and the US Government's allegations against him (if they were true) would have been made under duress.

Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
Shame on the federal fascists. The wicked old witch is dead! A Melbourne Magistrates Court has heard that a 31-year-old innocent Victorian man was facing terrorism charges?

Lawyer blames police for Habib break-in
John HoWARd, Alexander Downer, Phillip Ruddock, Robert Hill, to name just a few....HOW DO YOU PLEAD?

No reason for Habib to sell story: Beazley?
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Australia: a presumption of guilt......
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Aust Community criticises Govt for 'crimes'!
Australia: The Law Council of Australia is warning that the Federal Government must learn from its mistakes over Guantanamo Bay? Now that's a mistake!

Australian Govt Guilty of Crimes: Community
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What they did to Habib
Mamdouh Habib was the victim of atrocities fit for a concentration camp, including being tied to the ground while a prostitute menstruated on him, his lawyer said yesterday.

Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes
Complaint to Australian law officers about Australian Federal Government complicity in war crimes.

There is no justification for torture
In the weeks since the abuses at Abu Ghraib prison were revealed, evidence continues to seep out of similar mistreatment of prisoners in other US military detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay.

Howard rejects spy agency overhaul
Prime Minister John Howard has played down the need for a major overhaul of Australia's spy agencies as a result of an inquiry by former intelligence officer Phillip Flood.

Fascist Australian Govt torture exposed
The fascist Federal Government has been exposed for the torture of Australian Mamdouh Habib and the US Government's allegations against him (if they were true) would have been made under duress.

Innocent witch verballed by federal fascists!
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Innocent Victorian man held in custody for Xmas?!
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Innocent Melbourne man makes second bail bid
Rubish, just plain propaganda, fear-mongering, draconian nonsence from the HoWARd goverment's war agenda stink tank.

MPs to review spy agency powers
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Goulburn Jail breaches UN standards
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Lodhi toilet paper: crap!
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Brain injury for suspicion 'inhumane'
Faheem Khalid Lodhi refused bail by a Sydney court and remanded until June in hell at the (HARM-U) High Risk Management Unit at Goulburn. While he is in there he will receive a brain injury and is likely to self-harm due to the gross violation of living standards.

Ul-Haque 'the man who wants to become a doctor'
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Daily Terror rolled-over for Howard's war games
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Ruddock foreshadows new terrorism laws
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Community seeks more power to interrogate ASIO suspects
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Greens warn of 'politicised' terror trials
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Lawyer claims Al Qaeda suspect's evidence tainted!
Before returning to Australia last year, Thomas was arrested and held in custody for five months by Pakistani authorities before being released without charge.

Man terrorised by ASIO remanded in 'AA' isolation!
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Melbourne man charged over ASIO links
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DING DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD
A court has been told Joseph Thomas is a sleeper? ZZZ! Melbourne Australia: A court has been told that Osama bin Laden asked a Melbourne man to become a "sleeper" in Australia before undertaking activities for the Al Qaeda network? Munchkins: "Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch! Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead."

AFP: The unlikely CRIMINAL
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Mamdouh Habib: Taunted and Tortured!
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He was an undercover agent for the blues
He was my journalist, he was working undercover. The fellow knew all of the moves.... He really had me romping, bare footing stomping. He just kept igniting my fuse....

Up there Khasali: Innocent man new bail laws
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HEY! BIG BROTHER? LET INNOCENT PEOPLE GO!
Young men terrorised, tortured, and threatened with charges for no crime by Australia mate the lucky country. Lucky if you're not used for Howard's FEDERAL ELECTION and George Dubya's WAR ON LIBERTY! Who shot liberty? IGNORANCE!

Keelty foresees more terrorism
Australian Federal Police (AFP) Commissioner Mick Keelty says terrorist groups will continue to find new ways to threaten countries.

Islamic movement denies links to Al Qaeda
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2nd Renaissance -10 The War on Witches [150]
In 1484, Pope Innocent VIII issued a Papal Bull that became the rationale for establishing the Inquisition in Germany. The following excerpt from the Bull sets out the official view of the danger of witches to the community. The Bull and this this passage provided the sole excuse for the torture and cruel executions that were, ultimately, to be the fate of up to fifty percent of the population of some villages.

LAPD Accused of Unprovoked Attack at Vigil

NATION OF ISLAM minister Tony Muhammad, standing in front of Muhammad Mosque

US: LOS ANGELES - Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa promised an investigation last Friday into claims that a Nation of Islam minister was beaten by Los Angeles police during a vigil for a shooting victim.

Supporters of Tony Muhammad, western regional director of the Nation of Islam, are calling for tougher scrutiny of a police department that has repeatedly faced allegations of using excessive force.

Police said Muhammad was "very belligerent and uncooperative'' when officers asked that two vehicles to be moved on the Thursday night during the vigil. They said two of Muhammad's bodyguards also began fighting with officers, who called for backup.

Muhammad was arrested on suspicion of committing battery against a police officer.

In a series of news conferences last Friday, the mayor, police officials and religious leaders called for calm, and Villaraigosa and Assistant Chief Jim McDonnell promised an investigation.

"We will hold anyone accountable for breaking the law,'' Villaraigosa said.

Community activist Danny Bakewell, president of the Brotherhood Crusade, said he believes Muhammad was "battered brutally in an unprovoked attack by the Los Angeles Police Department.''

Unless the department is reformed, "We all walk in danger,'' he said.

Muhammad, his lip appearing badly swollen, told a group of supporters earlier Friday: "Nothing's changed in 40 years. We are at the bottom and we might as well stand the hell up today.''

The vigil Thursday night was for Nahun Beaird, 21, who was fatally shot the night before. Some area residents didn't believe paramedics did enough to try to save him and had accused them of covering his body with a sheet while the victim appeared to still be alive.

When members of the crowd demanded paramedics remove the sheet and attempt to revive him, the paramedics, who had been loading a second victim into an ambulance, complied but were unable to resuscitate him.

Fire officials said Beaird was dead when paramedics covered him. Doctors at California Hospital Medical Center said Beaird had died at the scene.

McDonnell said Beaird was another needless victims of violence that grips the South Los Angeles neighborhood where he died. The area, just 8 percent of the city, has had 42 percent of its homicides this year, McDonnell said.

He implored residents not to let differences with the Police Department divide a mutual effort to reduce crime.

By Injustice posted 30 August 05

Related:

Community Forum on Law Enforcement Violence
Don't miss an opportunity to join a diverse group of community members, organizations, students, workers, activists, organizers, artists, educators, experts, and spiritual leaders for a community discussion on organizing a grassroots movement to end law enforcement violence in our communities, on Saturday, July 16, 2005 from 9:00 am -- 12:00 pm at the TremZ Community Center, 900 N. Villere St. (at the corner of N. Villere and St. Phillip St.).

Racial Justice Day 2005
Religious congregations across the city will have services of remembrance & resistance, as a reminder to us all that police violence & brutality are real and continuing threats to the safety of communities throughout NYC and the nation.

Three-Strikes law mandatory sentencing

US: First of all, this is not about a simple baseball game.

This is about the most important thing of all, the game of life. The Three-Strikes law (mandatory sentencing for three felony convictions) came into being through fear, manipulation and, yes, full-blown prejudice.

The popular image of the African-American male as a predator continues to fuel this absurd trend, and is hardly likely to be arrested in the short term, that is, save a miraculous transformation of the media, the economy, black male collective organizations and public opinion.

Ever since the 1968 presidential campaign of Richard M. Nixon, the African-American male image has been a useful mobilizer for white votes. With the focus on street crime completely saturating the media through both entertainment and news, or a combination of both, it is not surprising that 90 percent of the American public agrees that crime is a very "serious" problem.

In the August 1995 issue of American Demographics, Cheryl Russell writes that the obsession of the media with providing the "gory" details of crime has increased the public's fear of crime. This is particularly true in regard to the largest "inner-city" areas of the nation, like Los Angeles. It is also well known that Gallup Polls rank cities according to their perceived danger of crime.

In the aftermath of the decline of the military-industrial complex as a result of the end of the Cold War and the rusting of America's industrial heartland, the business of imprisonment looms more importantly. Many, many people realize crime (or the perception of it) is profitable for a wide spectrum of firms. More than two in five Americans have additional locks on their doors, and slightly less than one in five have residential security systems or alarms.

Again, according to Russell, gun sales, Mace and other devices designed against crime have also fueled the tremendous growth of the private security industry. Today, well over $50 billion per year is spent in an industry that employs over 2.5 million guards and consists of over 22 thousand firms.

Private firms now own prisons and utilize inmates as a source of cheap labor. Prisons also represent new jobs and the infusion of new money into some rural communities previously suffering from economical depression. In addition to jobs, prisons fuel a variety of high- and low-tech industries, including surveillance and electronic monitoring, food service, medicine, supplies, health care, drug treatment programs, telecommunications, lenders, architectural firms, and the construction trades (including masonry, fencing, barbed wired, etc.) as the prison industry continues to boom.

The Origins of Three-Strikes Law

Many have traced the popularization of mandatory minimum laws to the Rockefeller Drug Law, enacted in 1973 under West Virginia's then-Gov. Nelson Rockefeller. These laws began the downward spiral of removing the discretion of judges from sentencing.

The Rockefeller Drug Laws incarcerate offenders for 15 years to life for possession of four ounces, or the sale of two ounces, of select controlled substances as Class A felony crimes. These laws provide an individual with the same sentence for possession of a few ounces of illegal drugs as someone convicted of murder, kidnapping or rape.

Enacted in the same year in New York state was the Second Felony law, which adds time onto sentences for second felony offenses, regardless of whether violence was involved. In New York, African Americans and Latinos comprise 93 percent of those incarcerated for drug felonies, while making up only 23 percent of New York's population.

Annually, 35,000 individuals are locked up in New York State for drug felonies. Also, while the Rockefeller and Three-Strikes law impacts society on the state and local levels, federal mandatory minimums have also had a negative impact throughout the country.

In actuality, the Three-Strikes law in California was designed for the most brutal criminals, and as is the case of federal and Rockefeller Drug Laws, meant to get the "kingpins." Instead, these laws are penalizing ordinary offenders with draconian punishments.

Over 65 percent of those imprisoned under Three-Strikes in California are non-violent offenders. According to the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights (LCCR) and Leadership Conference on Civil Rights Education Fund, African-American males sentenced in state courts on felonies receive prison sentences 52 percent of the time, while whites just receive them 34 percent of the time.

The rapidly increasing number of women being locked upnow the fastest growing proportion of America's prison populationis also seen as a cause for alarm.

By Otis L. Cavers posted 26 April 05

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Los Angeles -- March 5, 2003 -- The United States Supreme Court has ruled that a 50-year sentence being served by a man who shoplifted videos as gifts for his children is not a "cruel and unusual" punishment.

The ruling was described as "barbarous" by campaigners against California's "three strikes law", which imposes mandatory penalties for third-time offenders.

By a majority of five to four, the Supreme Court decided that Leandro Andrade should continue to serve the 50 years imposed in 1995 for shoplifting videos worth about $200 on two separate occasions.

Because he had committed past similar shoplifting offences, he was jailed in 1995 under the state's three-strikes law, which mandates a minimum 25-year sentence for each new offence, making a total of 50 years.

Andrade, who had a drug habit, had no record of violence, and had stolen videos including 'Cinderella' and 'Free Willy' for his children.

"This is simply barbarous", said Geri Silva, executive director of Families to Amend California's Three Strikes (FACTS), an LA-based organization campaigning to exclude non-violent offenders from the effects of the law.

"It shows the absolute inhumanity of the highest court of the land. If that is not a cruel and unusual punishment, I don't know what is".

The ruling came in response to a decision last year by the regional circuit appeal court in San Francisco that the 50-year sentence for Andrade -- and a 25-year term for Gary Ewing, who stole three golf clubs -- were cruel and unusual punishments, and therefore unconstitutional. California's attorney general, Bill Lockyer, appealed against the decision which brought it to the supreme court last year.

The court's decision upholding the three-strikes law was announced yesterday.

The California governor, Gray Davis, welcomed the decision. "This is good for California", said Davis, one of whose main political donors is the group that represents California's prison officers. He said that the law helped to keep down crime rates.

Professor Erwin Chemerinsky, who represented Andrade, expressed surprise at the decision. He said that had Andrade committed rape, not shoplifting, he would have been given eight years rather than 50 because it would have been his first such offense.

The next likely development will be an attempt to amend the law during elections in 2004. Pressure groups, including FACTS, are now collecting signatures to put a proposition to the electorate that would limit the three-strike law to violent offenders. At present, half of those serving three strikes sentences are jailed for non-violent offenses.

"Opinion polls show that people do not want the law to be used for non-violent offenders", said Silva of FACTS yesterday, adding that she was hopeful of collecting enough signatures to put the issue on the 2004 ballot.

Three strikes was introduced after the abduction and murder of 12-year-old Polly Klaas in 1993 by a repeat offender out on parole. The girl's grandfather, Joe Klaas, has joined the FACTS campaign, saying the law should not be used against minor, non-violent offences.

By Duncan Campbell posted 7 March 03