Three Strikes Law Recidivism is a tendency to fall back into a previous pattern of behavior or a tendency to return to criminal behavior. Many studies have been conducted on criminals who start with minor crimes (misdemeanors) repeat the same crimes or progress to serious crimes (felomies). Fear of repeat offenders and increased recidivism have pushed federal and state governments to look for tougher ways to protect citizens' safety. Mike Reynolds, a photographer whose daughter, Kimber, was killed in 1992 during a mugging, introduced the three-strikes law in 1993. State legislators considered and rejected this law because they believed the measures were harsh and costly. However, the three strikes law received national attention from a second incident, the 1993 kidnapping of Polly Klaas from her Petaluma home. Polly was kidnapped and killed by Richard Allen Davis who was on parole during this time. Because of this second incident, in January 1994, during the State of the Union address, President Clinton called for passage of a federal three-strikes law. In March 1994, California passed the Three Strikes law. “Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy criticized the politics surrounding the enactment of the Three Strikes Law, California's famous repeat sentencing system, as 'sick'” (Romano, 2010). Although the Three Strikes Law is California-centric, Washington was the first state to adopt the law, while California followed a broader version. According to Dickey and Hollenhorst (1999), “23 states and the federal government have adopted some form of “three strikes and you're out” law intended to target violent repeat offenders (p. 1). The law varies from state to state, but the intent is... middle of the paper... of offenders convicted of a second strike and 44% of those convicted of a third strike" (p. 10). Overcrowding Conclusion Overall, the three strikes law is in place. The law has made progress to ensure that it only targets career criminals Each state has its own methods of exercising preferences to ensure that the law is applied fairly. The three strikes law focuses on individuals and determines whether they receive longer sentences because of their past criminal conduct explained, “Recidivism is a serious public safety issue in California and across the nation” (Goodno, 2007) The law was enacted to address this concern, and currently, the law is proving that it is doing its job.