Life Sentences In Prison

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Life sentences is another very important fact that can bring inmates into an old age due to the extreme lengthy sentence which may cause the reason for older prisoners to be the fastest growing group in prison. The use of the life sentences involved with no chance of being discharge named life without parole (Fellner, 2012). Referring to the Sentencing Project, the amount of inmates served for life sentences in state prison raised from 34,000 to 140,610, which was four times of the inmates along the year of 1984 to 2008 (Nellis & King, 2009). As for the federal prison system, the increases in the amount of inmates with life sentences raised even more from 410 federal lifers to 4,222 between the years of 1998 to 2009, which is ten times higher …show more content…

According to National Corrections Reporting Program in 2009 based on 24 states, there were 3,75,576 inmates, who involved with 9.6% of state prison population, were served with life sentence (Bureau of Justice Statistics, n.d.). In 3,75,576 inmates, 63,759 were life sentences and 11,817 were life without given parole or life added for additional years and this can equivalent to life without parole (cited in Fellen, 2012). Therefore, it is difficult for inmates who served life sentence to be discharged on parole due to parole boards and governors was greatly influenced by public judgement and the wish to prevent a political backlash from the discharged of someone convicted, such as notorious violent crime (Liptak, 2005). Regardless to how regardful or rehabilitated violent inmates are or how good their prison record are, parole boards may need them to stay in prison for many years that past their parole qualified date (Weisberg, Mukamal & Segall, 2011). Under some circumstance, parole boars may directly never approve to parole, and even if the parole boards do, their judgement may be opposed by governors (Weisberg, Mukamal & Segall, 2011). According to a study taken in California about parole decision making showed that only 6% chances for lifers who committed murder being permit parole by parole board and the decision was not opposed by the governors (Weisberg, Mukamal & Segall, 2011). Thus, the number of inmates that being life sentences as well as life without parole was very high which can have eventually increased the number and become the fastest group of older prisoners

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