Politics & Government
Agree With Gov. Patrick Signing the Three Strikes Bill?
Patrick had two options: sign the bill without the amendment or veto the entire thing.
Gov. Deval Patrick set in motion a wave of criticism when he proposed an amendment to the "three strikes"/Melissa's Bill on the grounds that it lacked sufficient provisions for judicial discretion.
Dubbed "Melissa's Law," after Melissa Gosule, the 27-year-old Jamaica Plain schoolteacher who was raped and murdered in 1999 by a felon who had 27 previous convictions, the bill eliminates parole for someone convicted three times of one of 40 or so violent crimes, with at least one conviction having carried a minimum three-year prison term. It was was .
Warning of possible unintended "unjust consequences" that can arise from mandatory sentencing laws, Patrick wrote in a letter to the Legislature, "None of us is wise or prescient enough to foresee each and every circumstance in which the new habitual offender provisions may apply."
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Although the bill passed with overwhelming support in both chambers last week, Patrick sent it back on Saturday, asking for an amendment that increases judicial discretion. But both , rejecting the amendment and putting it back on Patrick's desk as is—and thereby forcing Patrick to make an all-or-nothing choice.
On Tuesday, . With this in mind, tell us how you think Gov. Patrick should've acted by voting in this poll. We welcome you to explain your choice in the comments section, too.
