David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants

and 3 percent on prisons. After two
decades of Three Strikes, the state was
spending more than 10 percent of its
budget on prisons—$50,000 a year for
every man and woman behind bars—
while education spending had fallen
below 8 percent.
7 In November 2012, 68.6 percent of
Californian voters voted in favor of
Proposition 36, which stated that in
order to receive a twenty-five-years-to-
life sentence, a repeat offender’s third
felony must be of a “serious or violent”
nature. Proposition 36 also allows
offenders previously sentenced under
Three Strikes and currently serving a life
sentence to appeal for resentencing if the