Between 1993 and 1997, State legislatures across the country passed legislation popularly known as "three strikes and you're out" laws. These laws appeared at a time when sentencing commissions existed in many States, and the commissions were involved in the legislative debates that led to the votes on "three strikes" laws. Thus, the passage of "three strikes" laws can shed light on one type of interaction between sentencing commissions and legislatures. A survey of States that have passed "three strikes" laws indicates that sentencing commissions have not made any systematic difference in the legislative debates on these statutes. Commissions have little reason to oppose these laws absolutely and could lose political credibility by doing so. Commissions have incentives instead to argue for limiting the scope of these statutes. When commissions have been involved in the debates about habitual felon legislation, they have emphasized limits on judicial discretion, focused on the quality of legislative deliberations rather than on legislative outcomes, and have devoted little attention to prosecutorial charging decisions. 2 tables, 11 notes, and 67 references