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Now 94 and Harmless, Why Is He Still in Jail? | 22 comments (22 topical)

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You are right (none / 0) (#12)
by HK on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 05:21:14 PM EST
to acknowledge that LWOP was not the sentence here.  I think that to give someone an indeterminate sentence, as this guy appears to have been, is actually more cruel.

But since you raise the issue of LWOP as an alternative to the death penalty, I feel I should point out that I (and, I imagine, many others who oppose capital punishment) only refer to LWOP as an alternative because it is a comparable punishment in that the offender is permanently removed from society.  I personally feel that LWOP should be used extremely sparingly, as it is in the UK, where, (according to the last set of figures I saw) less than 100 inmates are serving sentences with no release date.  I feel it is heavy-handed and unhelpful to label someone at, say, 18 years old as being permanently irredeemable.  Plus, as you say, we would then end up supporting and housing a large elderly prison population.

[ Parent ]

Cruel (none / 0) (#14)
by squeaky on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 06:05:51 PM EST
At this point I think it is more cruel to release the guy. Send him on the street with bus money?  At that age? What is he going to do if he were released?

[ Parent ]
Read the link, squeaky (none / 0) (#15)
by sarcastic unnamed one on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 06:36:51 PM EST


[ Parent ]
Got it (none / 0) (#16)
by squeaky on Tue Apr 10, 2007 at 07:03:58 PM EST
Thanks SUO, it does help to read first before commenting. I guess that I still wonder what will happen to him if he was released to the family and he needed 24/7 care. It is a huge job taking care of someone in their final years, not something like taking in a kid.

It was on my mind because a close friend hass her 96 year old mother at home. It is a huge job. Nursing care and special equipment is required. My friend is in London so the NIH picks up the tab for much.  She cannot be left alone and is wait listed for a nursing home.  A lot of love needs to be there to properly take care of someone in those August years.

[ Parent ]

actually (none / 0) (#20)
by cpinva on Wed Apr 11, 2007 at 09:41:10 AM EST
the death sentence is used extremely sparingly, as a % of both the population as a whole, and as a % of those incarcerated, in the US. bear in mind, the population of the UK is less than half that of the US.

as well, most murders are not committed by 18 year-olds, they are committed by those in their mid-20's and 30's, so we aren't talking children here. i'll grant you that most are probably not premeditated, but the person is just as dead.

then, there are the pedophiles, who we all pretty much agree are just heinous, period.

all of which leads back to the question: what do we, as a society, consider such a horrendous act, that life in prison is a fair sentence?

i don't know the answer.

[ Parent ]

Point taken (5.00 / 1) (#22)
by HK on Wed Apr 11, 2007 at 01:26:00 PM EST
about the UK having a smaller population than the US - so let's compare some statistics.  The UK actually has a population of about a third that of the US.  You state that the death penalty in the US is used even more sparingly than LWOP; since I can't find the statistics for the number serving LWOP in the US, we can use the number on death row as a yard stick.  The number of those on death row in the US is approximately 3,350; those serving a whole life sentence in the UK number only about 100 (I think it is less than this, but am rounding up). The population in the US is three times that of the population in the UK, but the number of those on death row is more than 33 times the number serving LWOP in the UK.  Therefore, the number of inmates serving LWOP in the US must be vastly more than three times the number of imates serving LWOP in the UK.

As far as prison populations as a whole go, it may surprise you to know that despite the UK having one of the highest rates of incarceration in Western Europe (in 2005 the figures state that 139 people per 100,000 were incarcerated) the number of people doing time is still only about a fifth of that in the US, which stood at 714 people per 100,000 in 2005. You can find the statistics here.

most murders are not committed by 18 year-olds, they are committed by those in their mid-20's and 30's

I think you are probably right about this, but I can't find any information about age of offenders at the time of the crime - maybe you could link to the source of your information as I would be interested for future reference.

I was not suggesting that all those on death row or serving LWOP were sentenced at 18, but rather was objecting to the fact that it was possible for an offender to be sentenced to either death or LWOP a very young age despite the possibility that they may change considerably in the coming years.

As far as your question (what do we, as a society, consider such a horrendous act, that life in prison is a fair sentence?) goes, my answer would be that all cases should be dealt with individually and that it is not just the act, but circumstances surrounding it and the history, nature, intelligence and mental health of the perpetrator that must be considered.  And, in some cases, age is relevant.

[ Parent ]

Now 94 and Harmless, Why Is He Still in Jail? | 22 comments (22 topical)

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