It looks Louisana needs a major rewrite of its habitual offender after I saw this
http://www.nola.com/crime/index.ssf/2011/05/fourth_marijuana_conviction_ge.html">article
"He didn't fare too well after moving to St. Tammany Parish, however. A single such conviction on the north shore landed the 35-year-old in prison for the rest of his life.
State Judge Raymond S. Childress punished Hood under Louisiana's repeat-offender law in his courtroom in Covington on Thursday. A jury on Feb. 15 found the defendant guilty of attempting to possess and distribute marijuana at his Slidell home, court records show.
Hood moved from eastern New Orleans to the Slidell area after he admitted to separate charges of distribution of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute marijuana on Dec. 18, 2009, in Orleans Parish Criminal District Court. He received a suspended five-year prison sentence and five years' of probation for each -- which was precisely the same penalty he got in that court after pleading guilty to possessing and intending to distribute marijuana on Feb. 22, 2005.
When Hood switched homes, he also requested a new probation officer based in St. Tammany. Authorities granted the wish, and the officer, Dustin Munlin, drove to Hood's place for a routine visit on Sept. 27, 2010.
Sinply, the state needs to rewrite its habitual offender laws to prevent judges from imposing the subject sentence upon nonviolent offender. A better solution would to either (i) double the amount of time that the judge can provide on the sentence or (ii) place an additional term of years on top of the regular sentence. A sentence of 15 years would be far more effective than a life sentence in the subject case.