Appeals court tosses 25-year three-strikes shoplifting term

[Kadie]

DAVID KRAVETS

Associated Press


SAN FRANCISCO - A federal appeals court Monday overturned a three-strikes sentence of 25 years to life

imposed on a repeat shoplifter despite Supreme Court precedent allowing harsh sentences for petty crimes.

Ruling 2-1, a panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the 25-year term handed to a California man

convicted of stealing a $199 VCR violated the Eighth Amendment constitutional ban on cruel-and-unusual

punishment. The appellate court said the punishment did not fit the crime even though the Supreme Court last

year upheld the same sentences for two California shoplifters.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/peninsula/8469658.htm

[mitchtv]

1. Go ninth circuit

I love my state