In the case of Isaac Ramirez decided Monday, the appeals court said his priors were minimal: two unarmed robbery convictions. The defendants the Supreme Court dealt with last year had lengthy and sometimes violent criminal pasts. "Ramirez's sentence is grossly disproportionate to the crimes he committed in violation of the Eighth Amendment," Judge Kim McLane Wardlaw wrote. She was joined by Judge John Noonan. Wardlaw added that the "gravity of Ramirez's offense raises an inference of gross disproportionally in light of the nature and paucity of his criminal history." Without the three strikes law, Ramirez would have been eligible for up to a year in prison.

In what could be called Klass v. Klass, Joe Klass, grandfather of Polly Klass, is leading a fight to get voters to approve a law that would prohibit life sentences for three-strikers unless the strike triggering the sentence was a violent offense. Mark Klass, Polly's father, opposes the measure.

Provoking the split is a proposal that would require any offenses triggering "three strikes" sentences to be serious or violent crimes. The amendment would apply retroactively, allowing more than 26,000 offenders to seek resentencing and release. Under current law, offenders who have a record of one serious or violent crime are subject to a doubling of their prison term if convicted of any felony. Offenders with two such prior convictions face terms of 25 years to life. The final strike need not be serious or violent.

For more on the voter initiative, go here.