In this June 20, 1996 ruling, the California Supreme Court gave judges the power to ignore the state's "three strikes and you're out" rule. The court said judges should be allowed to retain their authority to consider different factors when imposing a sentence. Under the California law, anyone with two violent felony convictions could be sent to jail for 25 years to life for any third felony conviction, no matter how minor, unless the prosecutor approved a lesser sentence.'
Some 20 states and Congress have passed laws calling for mandatory sentences after three convictions.
