The Violent Crime and Law Enforcement Act of 1994

was, depending on the source cited, either considered unsatisfactory or not performed
at all, where the defendant had been convicted of two prior felony convictions, and
where the total amount involved from all three felonies was around $230.
In 1993: Washington
In 1994: California,[24] Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, New
Mexico, North Carolina, Virginia, Louisiana, Wisconsin, and Tennessee. Tennessee is
one of the few states, together with Georgia and South Carolina, that mandates life
without parole for two or more convictions for the most serious violent crimes, including
murder, rape, child sexual abuse, aggravated cases of robbery, sexual abuse or child
sexual abuse, etc.
In 1995: Arkansas, Florida, Montana, Nevada, New Jersey, North Dakota,
Pennsylvania, Utah, Georgia and Vermont. Georgia has a "two strikes" law, also known
as the "seven deadly sins" law, which mandates a sentence of life imprisonment without
parole for two or more convictions of murder, rape, armed robbery, kidnapping,
aggravated sexual battery, aggravated sodomy, or aggravated child molestation or any
combination of those offenses.
In 1996: South Carolina. South Carolina also has a "two strikes" law for crimes known
as a "most serious offense", which are crimes like murder, rape, attempted murder,
armed robbery, etc. whereas, the "three strikes" law applies to "serious offences" which
are many drug offenses, other violent crimes like burglary, robbery, arson, etc. and even
serious nonviolent crimes like insurance fraud, forgery, counterfeit, etc. Two convictions
or three convictions under these provisions or any combination of these will
automatically result in a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The
South Carolina "two strikes" law is similar to Georgia's seven-deadly-sins law.
In 2006: Arizona
In 2012: Massachusetts
Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee are the only states in the United States to date
that have "two strikes" laws for the most serious violent crimes, such as murder, rape,
serious cases of robbery, etc. and they all mandate a sentence of life imprisonment
without parole for a conviction of any such crimes a second time around.
Application
The exact application of the three-strikes laws varies considerably from state to state,
but the laws call for life sentences for at least 25 years on their third strike. In the state
of Maryland, any person who receives their fourth strike for any crime of violence will
automatically be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
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