The next chapter for California's Three Strikes?

Additional articles about the defeat of Proposition 66 in the Victorville Daily Press and in the San Francisco Chronicle provide additional details about the initiative's defeat and the possibility of future efforts to limit the reach of the nation's toughest Three Strikes Law. The SF Chronicle story explains the precise role Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger played in Prop. 66's defeat:

A last-minute advertising blitz featuring Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger successfully shifted debate on the proposition from images of drug addicts and petty thieves serving unfairly harsh prison sentences to hardened criminals receiving get-out-of-jail-free passes, and the final count ended with 53 percent of voters opposed.

It will be interesting to see if Governor Schwarzenegger will also play an active role in a more moderate restriction on the reach of Prop. 66. The SF Chronicle article concludes by suggesting this is a possibility:

Even some who opposed Tuesday's try [to amend the Three Strikes Law] aren't adamantly against some kind of fix that prevents using the law for some nonviolent felonies.

San Mateo County District Attorney James Fox, a vocal opponent of Prop. 66, said he believed there "was sentiment out there to make some corrections to three strikes to eliminate the possibility of prosecutorial indiscretion.'' Fox said his office does not use three strikes against those accused of nonviolent crimes.

Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he hoped to talk to Attorney General Bill Lockyer -- the state's top criminal justice official -- about the issue.