| This study combines several methodologies to estimate the impacts of "Three Strikes and You're Out" and "Truth in Sentencing" on crime and corrections.; A model was developed to estimate the laws' impacts nationally, and in California and Washington, using state-level time-series data. Analysis of individual-level data further examined the effects of Three Strikes in three California cities, and interviews were conducted with criminal justice professionals in Los Angeles to gain a fuller understanding of the law's implementation and effects.; Nationally, Three Strikes has had no impact on crime rates or on correctional populations. This is not surprising; the law is seldom used in most states. The presence of Three Strikes is associated with crime reductions in California, where the law is broadest and used most frequently. The law seems to have greater impacts on property offenders, who may be more responsive to deterrence efforts, and are subject to greater marginal increases in sentence length from Three Strikes, than violent offenders.; Truth in Sentencing has had negligible effects on crime and corrections, except in Washington, which adopted the law early. There, TIS is associated with faster growth in incarceration and a slower flow of inmate populations through prison. More impacts may emerge in other states in the future.; In California, Three Strikes has changed the distribution of prison sentences. Several property and drug offenders with "strikes" in Los Angeles and San Diego received sentences that were far longer than those received by comparable non-Three Strikes defendants.; Disparities were found in the implementation and effects of Three Strikes. Among the three cities studied, Three Strikes was applied the least often, and had the smallest impact, in San Francisco, where voters had not supported the law strongly and the DA's policy is to file third-strike charges only against violent offenders.; While several criminal justice professionals were skeptical about whether criminals can be deterred, most supported Three Strikes for its incapacitation effects. The law has not caused undue strain on resources in the police department or district attorney's office. Most interviewees expected the law to continue as it is currently implemented. |
