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Top Five Reasons Why California's 10-20-Life Law is Unduly Harsh

By Neil Shous, Esq.

California?s ?10-20-life ?use a gun and you?re done?? law subjects an offender to ten years in prison for using a gun, 20 years for discharging a gun, and 25-years-to-life for seriously injuring or killing another person with a gun. What?s more is that these harsh penalties are in addition and consecutive to the penalty you face for the underlying felony offense. Here are just a few of the reasons why California?s ?10-20-life ?use a gun and you?re done?? law is unduly harsh: You can be sentenced to ten years for ?using? a gun even if the gun is inoperable or unloaded. You can be sentenced to ten years for ?using? a gun even if you only use it to strike someone (otherwise referred to as pistol whipping). You can be sentenced to twenty years for discharging a gun even if the gun misfires or doesn?t discharge a bullet...continue to full post

Full post as published by California Criminal Defense Blog on June 15, 2010 (boomark / email).