United States v. Thomas Lee Farmer

RICHARD S. ARNOLD, Chief Judge.

On September 13, 1994, the so-called “three strikes and you’re out” proposal became a federal law. P.L. 103-322, Title VII, § 70001, 108 Stat. 1796, 1982, codified as 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c). The statute imposes a mandatory sentence of life in prison for persons convicted of three or more specified “serious violent felon[ies].” 18 U.S.C. § 3559(c)(1). This case, the parties tell us, is the first one in the country prosecuted under this new law. It resulted in the imposition of a life term on the appellant, Thomas Lee Farmer. We affirm the convictions and sentences…