> the state will cart people off for nonviolent crimes like stealing a bike or using a fake ID Reasonable, morally normal people don't want anybody sent to pri

> the state will cart people off for nonviolent crimes like stealing a bike or using a fake ID Reasonable, morally normal people don't want anybody sent to prison for stealing a bike. That's a reductive straw man. The issue at hand is that this person had stolen before, had been caught stealing multiple times before, and, despite being told that doing it again would result in a long sentence, still couldn't stop himself from stealing a bike. This is a pattern of bad behavior, even in response to the threat of dire consequences. That's not normal. And it's not just "stealing a bike." It's the totality of the behavior that's being punished. "Three strikes" laws require three strikes. It's silly to look at any one of those strikes in isolation. The point is that society is saying, "enough is enough."