Washington passed the first modern three strikes law by ballot measure in 1993. California followed in 1994 with one of the harshest versions, in which any felony could count as a third strike. The 1994 federal crime bill added a federal three strikes provision, and more than 20 states adopted similar laws.
In California, people received life sentences for third strikes such as shoplifting or stealing a slice of pizza. The Supreme Court upheld these sentences in Ewing v. California and Lockyer v. Andrade, both decided in 2003. Black Californians were sentenced under the law at disproportionate rates.
California voters narrowed the law in 2012 with Proposition 36, requiring the third strike to be serious or violent in most cases. Thousands were resentenced. Three strikes laws helped make long sentences normal, and many people sentenced under them remain in prison.