Under that law, persons convicted of a third serious or violent felony will be sentenced to a life prison term. Proponents of the California law argue that the State has been reluctant to punish its criminals and that the crime rate is rising out of control. However, this analysis contends that California has constructed 16 new prisons since 1984 and the State prison population has increased by 600 percent since 1977. During that same time period, the crime rate has remained essentially unchanged. During 1993 and 1994, while violent and property crime rates both fell, public fear of crime rose, largely due to increasing media attention. The 10 men whose stories are profiled in this document are all facing life imprisonment because they committed a third felony offense, that under other circumstances, would be considered a fairly minor crime. They all face current charges of residential burglary, petty theft, grand theft, or possession of a controlled substance.