Supporters of the proposition included Steve Cooley, the LA district attorney at the time, George Soros, and the NAACP.

Proposition 36 was predated by two major trends since the late 20th century: rapidly increasing incarceration rates and the expansion of the private prison industry.

Beginning with the 1970s, President Richard Nixon announced the "war on drugs," which led to 'tough on crime' policies by a range of politicians.

Changes included mandatory minimum sentencing, harsh penalties barring inmates from being granted parole or probation, and stricter punishments for drug users both in and out of the prison.

Its passage was attributed to public outrage over the murder of Diane Ballasiotes, who was kidnapped, raped, and brutally stabbed by Gene Kane Jr., an escapee from Seattle work-release.

Similar outrage in California arose over the murders of Kim Reynolds and Polly Klaas, both of whom were killed by repeat felons.

[9] Relying mostly on projected data from statistical models, the authors predicted that three strikes could result in up to a 28% reduction in serious or violent crime, but questioned whether or not the public would be willing to fully fund the bill's estimated cost of $5.5 billion to support a much larger prison population serving lengthy sentences.

A study published in 2001 by Franklin Zimring and colleagues assessed the effects over several years of implementing the law and reached a more negative conclusion about its efficacy.

[10] Zimring examined samples of felony arrests from three major California cities between 1993 and 1995, and found that the group targeted by Three Strikes, namely people who had committed one or more serious or violent offenses, accounted for 10% of the total crime prior to the law's enactment; they did not differ significantly from the average criminal population.

[14] In addition, with the AB900, the ballot that was signed into law in May 2007 granting $7.4 billion for prison expansion, taxpayers will shell out an average of $315,000 per bed for the projects.

[17] As a result of the significant decrease in plea bargaining, prosecutors and public defenders face a high volume of jury trials, which are more expensive and which slow other business in the courts.

Proposition 66 would limit felonies that trigger the second and third strike applications to violent or serious crimes and would increase penalties for child molesters.

[21] Proposition 66 was backed by Citizens Against Violent Crime, a California political action committee, and Sacramento businessman Jerry Keenan, whose son was serving time for manslaughter in a car accident.

[22] They claimed that the proposition presents rather modest reforms that would eliminate overly harsh sentencing of minor felonies, while keeping serious career criminals behind bars.

They said that fewer than 3,000 inmates statewide were eligible to petition for resentencing, and that many of these had already served long sentences, making them older and less likely to return to crime (which is committed primarily by younger people).

[23] Major supporters included District Attorneys Steve Cooley, George Gascon and Jeffrey F Rosen, Mike Romano, the NAACP, and the Democratic Party.

[24] Opponents of Prop 36 argued that the Three Strikes Law was widely popular at its passage, was successful in keeping dangerous criminals off the streets, and reduced crime rates in the past two decades.

The opposition said that Prop 36 was unnecessary, as the original bill had safeguards that allowed individual judges to assign sentences in accordance with each criminal's background and local standards.

[25] Major opponents includes Mike Reynolds, who drafted the Three Strikes Law, Keith Royal, and the Republican Party.

[26] The very low denial rate of release suggests that judges and prosecutors have concluded that a majority of the third strikers qualifying for review under Proposition 36 do not pose a threat to society.

That portion of Proposition 36 relating to sentencing of current repeat felons convicted of a nonviolent, non-serious third felony has been implemented statewide.

Unlike all other prisoners released from California jails, they are ineligible for state and county support, jobs, housing, and drug treatment.

[26] Some inmates have been released without warning to their families or authorities, and without qualifying for parole, probation, or any other form of state-sponsored assistance in returning to society.

[26] Other critics complain that inadequate prosecutorial resources and attorney's intent upon denying or delaying resentencing to eligible inmates are also serious impediments to full implementation.