Ewing v. California

Gary Ewing (defendant) was arrested for stealing golf clubs worth about $1,200 while on parole, with a record including three burglaries and a robbery. Under California's 'Three Strikes and You're Out' law, a defendant with two or more prior serious or violent felonies who commits a new felony faces an indeterminate life sentence, subject to prosecutorial and judicial discretion to reduce the charge or set aside prior strikes. Neither the prosecutor nor the trial court exercised that discretion here; Ewing was convicted of felony grand theft and sentenced to 25 years to life. The Supreme Court granted certiorari to decide whether the sentence violated the Eighth Amendment.