Narrator: This is Science Today. A recent study on crime policy suggests California’s current three strikes law doesn’t address the public’s concern about violent crime. University of California, Berkeley law professor Edward Rubin says that’s because the California law and similar legislation in other states are basically symbolic.

Rubin: That is to say, they seem to respond to public concern, but they don’t really address the issue. It’s like eating candy when you’re hungry...it feels good at the time, but a few hours later, you’re hungry again and you’ve got no nutrition.

Narrator: The real issue, Rubin says, is shifting the four to five billion dollars it takes to keep non-violent criminals in prison...

Rubin: ..and recoup some of that money for prevention programs for police, for more secure incarceration of truly violent people.

Narrator: Rubin and his colleagues are talking with state legislators about drafting a more responsive crime policy. For Science Today, I’m Larissa Branin.