three strikes law
noun/ˌθriː ˈstraɪks lɔː/
/ˌθriː ˈstraɪks lɔː/
- one of a number of laws passed by states in the US that are known as mandatory sentencing laws. The laws make it possible to give a life sentence to someone who is found guilty of a crime on three occasions even though the crime itself would otherwise receive a much shorter sentence. The laws were first introduced in the 1990s and there have been many protests against them. The term three strikes comes from baseball, where a batter has three attempts to hit the ball before being out.
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three strikes law