First inmate released under California's Three Strikes Law - Central Coast News KION/KCBA

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--The first inmate resentenced under California's new three strikes law has been released, but it will likely be years before a lot of other prisoners affected by the new law will be set free.

Proposition 36, passed earlier this month, revised the law so that a life sentence could be imposed only if a third strike crime was a serious or violent felony.

The law is retroactive so prisoners who were sentenced to life for crimes which were non-serious or non-violent can petition the court for a new sentence. but receiving a lesser sentence isn't automatic.

The judge must also determine that the inmate doesn't pose an unreasonable risk to public safety.