Where Eldridge and Cavaretta Stand on the 'Three-Strikes' Bill

A bill that toughens sentences for violent repeat-offenders passed the Senate today after having been overwhelmingly in the House Wednesday evening. 

The so-called "three-strikes" law 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 passed the House with a vote of 139-14. In the Senate, it passed 31-7, with Acton's voting against the bill.

"Our criminal justice system needs reform, and I believe that reform should be evidence-based and fiscally responsible," Eldridge wrote to Patch. "Unfortunately, the so-called “Three Strikes” bill failed on both accounts, which is why I voted against it. The bill will lead to further crowding in our prisons and cost tens of millions of dollars, money that could have been spent on things, like hiring more police officers or drug treatment programs, that would really reduce crime and recidivism."

The movement to pass the law was fueled, in part, by outrage over two crimes. In one, . In the other crime more associated with the law, sometimes dubbed "Melissa's Law," 27-year-old Jamaica Plain schoolteacher Melissa Gosule was murdered in 1999 after being raped and murdered by a felon who had 27 previous convictions. Gosule grew up in Randolph.

, running agaist Eldridge for the State Senate in the Middlesex and Worcester District, had an opposing point of view.

"This is not the first time Senator Eldridge has put the special interests in front of the interests of his constituents,” Cavaretta noted in a .  “From pushing a carbon tax on all small businesses to voting against EBT cash reform, to even voting to shrink the drug free zone around schools, Mr. Eldridge votes far out of the mainstream. I think he owes constituents an explanation why he would not support locking up violent, repeat criminals."

While cracking down on violent criminals, the bill passed Wednesday eases mandatory sentencing on nonviolent drug offenses, in part to take the strain off overcrowded prisons. It also reduces the size of school zones, inside which drug activity carries a larger penalty, since most urban areas fall largely within these zones. 

The bill heads to Gov. Deval Patrick's desk, where he has until July 31 to act on it.

"Many other states across the country  -- political conservative states, including Texas, South Carolina, Kansas, and Mississippi -- have moved away from mandatory minimum sentences and three-strikes laws because they’ve realized these laws are extremely costly yet do little to make us safer," noted Eldridge. "I hope in the next session we can work on real reforms to our criminal justice system that will both increase public safety while decreasing costs. Other states have done this and so can we."