Habitual Offender Laws

A habitual offender or career criminal is a person convicted of a new crime who was previously convicted of a crime(s). Various state and jurisdictions may have laws targeting habitual offenders, and specifically providing for enhanced or exemplary punishments or other sanctions. They are designed to counter criminal recidivism by physical incapacitation via imprisonment.

The nature, scope and type of habitual offender statutes vary, but generally they apply when a person has been convicted twice for various crimes. Some codes may differentiate between classes of crimes (for example, some codes only deal with violent crime) and the length of time between convictions. Usually the sentence is greatly enhanced, in some circumstances it may be substantially more than the maximum sentence for the crime.

Habitual offender laws may provide for mandatory sentencing - in which a minimum sentence must be imposed, or may allow judicial discretion in allowing the court to determine a proper sentence. One example of a habitual offender statute is a provision requiring the revocation of a driver's license for a person convicted multiple times of driving under the influence.

The practice of imposing longer prison sentences on repeat offenders than on first-time offenders who commit the same crime is not an innovation. For example, New York has a persistent felony offender law that dates back to the late 19th century. These early habitual offender laws did not provide for mandatory sentencing.

In the United States, several state governments have passed laws which require the state courts to hand down a mandatory and extended sentences to habitual offenders (for example, making the repeated commission of the same misdemeanor a felony). Three strikes laws specifically target those who have been convicted of a serious criminal offense on three or more separate occasions.

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