Life Without Parole
States Offering Life Without Parole - See Below
Years That States Adopted LWOP
Resources:
A. Nellis and R. King, No Exit: The Expanding Use of Life Sentences In America, The Sentencing Project ( 2009). Read a summary by DPIC.
R. Johnson and A. Dobrzanska, "Mature coping among life-sentenced inmates: an exploratory study of adjustment dynamics," Corrections Compendium. (November 2005).
A. Liptak, "To More Inmates, Life Term Means Dying Behind Bars," New York Times, October 2, 2005.
DPIC Summary: The Sentencing Project's Report, "The Meaning of 'Life': Long Prison Sentences in Context" (2004).
Sentencing for Life: Americans Embrace Alternatives to the Death Penalty (DPIC Report 1993).
M. Lane, "Is there life without parole? A capital defendant's right to a meaningful alternative sentence," 26 Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review 327 (1993).
Life Without Parole News and Developments - Current Year
Life Without Parole News and Developments - Previous Years
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003
* Note that "three strikes" laws in some states may make life without parole available for at least some offenders in those states. |
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The Sentencing Project has released a new study on life sentences and life-without-parole sentences which documents the continued increase in the number of persons in prisons serving these sentences. No Exit: The Expanding Use Of Life Sentences follows up on the findings of the first report and makes recommendations to end the problem. Read DPIC's Summary of No Exit here
A report released by The Sentencing Project, “The Meaning of ‘Life’: Long Prison Sentences in Context,” documents a dramatic increase in the number of prisoners serving life without parole sentences and demonstrates that prisoners are serving increasingly longer terms of incarceration. Findings in the report include the following:
Of the lifers in prison, one in four (26.3%) is serving a sentence of life without parole, having increased from one in six (17.8%) in 1992.
In six states – Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maine, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota – all life sentences are imposed without the possibility of parole.
Seven states – Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, Louisiana, Michigan, and Pennsylvania – have more than 1,000 prisoners each serving sentences of life without parole.
The increase in prison time for lifers is a result of changes in state policy and not due to increases in violent crime.
To read more of DPIC's full summary, click here.
To view the full report in PDF, click here.