Is the Three Strikes Law a Cruel and Unusual Punishment in California ? In California, punishment is considered cruel or unusual only if it is "so disproportionate to the crime for which it is inflicted that it shocks the conscience and offends fundamental notions of human dignity." (In re Lynch (1972) 8 Cal.3d 410, 424, 105 Cal. Rptr. 217, 503 P.2d 921; see also People v. Dillon (1983) 34 Cal.3d 441, 477-482, 194 Cal. Rptr. 390, 668 P.2d 697; Cal. Const., art. I, 17; and see People v. Cartwright (1995) 39 Cal.App.4th 1123, 1135-1136 on distinction between California and federal Constitutions.) The Supreme Court has repeatedly upheld such recidivist statutes against constitutional attack. ( Parke v. Raley (1992) 506 U.S. 20, 26-28, 121 L. Ed. 2d 391, 113 S. Ct. 517; Rummel v. Estelle (1980) 445 U.S. 263, 284-285, 63 L. Ed. 2d 382, 100 S. Ct. 1133.) It is the prerogative of state legislatures to permit or prescribe severe sentences for recidivist criminals. (Harmelin v. Michigan (1991) 501 U.S. 957, 962, 965, 996-1001, 115 L. Ed. 2d 836, 111 S. Ct. 2680; and see Rummel v. Estelle, supra, at pp. 284-285.)