three-strikes law

American  

[three-strahyks] / ˈθriˈstraɪks /

noun

1. a law that mandates a life sentence to a felon convicted for the third time.

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Etymology

Origin of three-strikes law

First recorded in 1990–95

Example Sentences

Hanzal was a second-striker — someone who has accumulated two “strikes” from serious or violent felonies under California’s three-strikes law, prosecutors said.

From Los Angeles Times

California’s three-strikes law mandates that individuals convicted of three or more serious or violent felonies receive a mandatory life sentence with the possibility of parole after 25 years.

From Los Angeles Times

It’s worth noting that the two major sentencing policies the Crime Bill pushed for—a federal three-strikes law and state truth-in-sentencing laws—were both laws that several states had adopted years earlier.

From Slate

A former federal prosecutor, Schiff campaigned for the state Senate in 1996 on a tough-on-crime platform and told voters he supported the state’s three-strikes law and the death penalty.

From Los Angeles Times

More than 70% of California voters supported the three-strikes law at the ballot box that fall.

From Los Angeles Times