California’s Three Strikes Law is still in effect, but it works differently than it did when Governor Wilson signed it on March 7, 1994. After voters passed the Three Strikes Reform Act (Proposition 36) in 2012, a person with two prior serious or violent felony convictions faces 25 years to life only when the new offense is also a serious or violent felony. The original version imposed that sentence for any third felony, no matter how minor.1Legislative Analyst’s Office. The Three Strikes and You’re Out Law
What Counts as a Strike
A strike is a conviction for a crime California classifies as either a serious felony or a violent felony. Violent felonies are listed in Penal Code Section 667.5(c) and include murder, voluntary manslaughter, rape, mayhem, arson, kidnapping, and carjacking.2California Legislative Information. California Penal Code 667.5 Serious felonies, defined in Penal Code Section 1192.7, cover all violent felonies plus additional crimes such as residential burglary, assault with a deadly weapon, and criminal threats. Any felony where the defendant personally used a dangerous weapon or caused great bodily injury also qualifies as a serious felony.
Both categories count equally as strikes. What matters most for the current case is whether the new offense also falls into one of these categories, because that is what determines whether the harshest sentence applies.
Second Strike: Any New Felony Doubles the Sentence
If you have one prior strike and are convicted of any new felony, the sentence for that new crime is doubled. The new felony does not need to be serious or violent for the doubling to apply. A felony that would normally carry a three-year term becomes six years for a second striker.3Legislative Analyst’s Office. A Primer – Three Strikes – The Impact After More Than a Decade
Second strikers also must serve at least 80 percent of the doubled term before becoming eligible for release, compared to the 50 percent that typically applies to non-strike offenders. Courts have less discretion to grant probation instead of prison time when a strike prior is involved.
Third Strike: When 25 Years to Life Applies
Under the law as reformed in 2012, a person with two or more prior strikes faces 25 years to life only when the current conviction is itself a serious or violent felony.3Legislative Analyst’s Office. A Primer – Three Strikes – The Impact After More Than a Decade Before the reform, any felony at all could trigger that sentence with two prior strikes, which meant people were serving life terms for offenses as minor as petty theft with a prior or receiving stolen property.
Now, if you have two prior strikes but your current felony is not serious or violent, the court sentences you as a second striker instead. The sentence is doubled rather than converted to 25 years to life.
There is an important exception. Certain prior convictions, sometimes called super strikes, still trigger 25 years to life even when the current offense is neither serious nor violent. These include sexually violent offenses, certain sex crimes against children, and homicide-related convictions. If any of your prior strikes falls into that category, the pre-2012 version of the third-strike rule effectively still applies.
What Proposition 36 Changed in 2012
Proposition 36 passed with nearly 69 percent of the vote in November 2012 and made two fundamental changes:
- Going forward, a 25-to-life third-strike sentence requires the current offense to be a serious or violent felony. Non-serious, non-violent third felonies are sentenced as second strikes with a doubled term.
- People already serving life sentences for non-serious, non-violent third strikes gained the right to petition the court for a reduced sentence. A judge reviews each petition and can deny resentencing if releasing the person would pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.
The resentencing provision was unusual. California rarely lets voters retroactively reduce sentences already imposed. In the years after passage, thousands of inmates filed petitions, and many saw their sentences reduced to time served or to the doubled second-strike term. Courts assess each case individually, looking at the inmate’s criminal history, prison disciplinary record, and any evidence of rehabilitation.
Asking a Judge to Dismiss a Strike
California courts have the power to dismiss a prior strike conviction “in the interest of justice.” That authority comes from a 1996 California Supreme Court decision commonly called Romero, and a request to dismiss a strike is known informally as a Romero motion.
Judges weighing one consider the nature of the current offense, the defendant’s background and character, and whether the defendant falls outside the spirit of the Three Strikes Law. Courts grant these motions selectively. A person whose prior strikes are decades old and whose current offense is relatively minor has a stronger case than someone with recent, violent priors. Prosecutors can oppose the motion, and the judge’s decision is reviewable on appeal.
A Romero motion does not erase the underlying conviction. It removes the strike designation for sentencing purposes on the current case, so the person avoids the doubled or 25-to-life sentence the strike would otherwise trigger.
Don’t Confuse the 2012 and 2024 Propositions Numbered 36
California voters passed another ballot measure also numbered Proposition 36 in 2024, but it addresses a different subject. The 2024 version changes penalties for certain theft and drug offenses.4Legislative Analyst’s Office. Proposition 36 It does not amend the Three Strikes Law. When you see references to “Prop 36,” check the year. The 2012 measure reformed three-strikes sentencing; the 2024 measure did not.
How the Federal Three-Strikes Law Differs
The federal government has its own three-strikes provision under 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c), and it is more rigid than California’s current law. A federal defendant convicted of a “serious violent felony” who has two or more prior convictions for serious violent felonies or serious drug offenses faces mandatory life imprisonment with no possibility of parole.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses There is no federal equivalent of Proposition 36, and no resentencing mechanism for inmates already serving federal three-strikes life sentences.
Federal serious violent felonies include murder, kidnapping, robbery, arson, carjacking, extortion, and any offense carrying a maximum sentence of 10 or more years that involves the use or threat of physical force.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 U.S. Code 3559 – Sentencing Classification of Offenses Federal three-strikes prosecutions are far less common than state cases in California, but the consequences are heavier because life means life.