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Record 10% of US Convicts Serving Life

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 22, 2009 5:00 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Almost 10% of prisoners incarcerated in the US are serving life sentences, an all-time high, the New York Times reports. In California, which maintains the nation’s highest prison population, that number is 20%, says a report from the Sentencing Project, a group that wants to eliminate life-without-parole sentences. Two-thirds of those serving life sentences are black or Latino—in New York, for example, just 16.3% of lifers are white. And even those eligible for parole are unlikely to get the chance.

“When California courts sentence somebody to life with parole, it turns out that’s not possible after all,” a professor says. “Board of parole hearings almost never grant releases.” And though the public is softening on nonviolent crime, it appears to be staunchly hardline when it comes to violence. “They’re not willing to do anything different for violent offenders,” the professor says.

The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, La.
The Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola, La.   (AP Photo)
A prison cell.
A prison cell.   (AP Photo)
A prison cell.
A prison cell.   (AP Photo)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 11 comments
riffran
Jul 23, 2009 10:04 AM CDT
as Ron White would say...."In Texas we have the death penalty, and we USE IT....If two or more credible witnessess see you do what you did you don't stay for years on death row, you go to the head of the line jack...OTHER states are trying to do away with the death penalty,........and we are putting in an express lane".... :)
riffran
Jul 23, 2009 10:00 AM CDT
thats right TC...work the SHIT out of them, let them know they are being punished, AND that they still have to earn their way. Make them too tired to plot more shit when they get out
wwwonderer
Jul 23, 2009 6:15 AM CDT
Shan. in IL it was one of the things Ryan did as GOV before getting 'in some hot water'. So many cases overturned on DNA, crooked cop-torture-induced confessions, someone else ALREADY locked up confesses on their death bed, etc. That is the thing. How many people, not only on death row, but IN THE SYSTEM SHOULD NOT BE THERE? You say two-thirds of those serving life sentences are black or Latino-in New York, for example, just 16.3% of lifers are white. What about prison population in general. Anyone think it's out of proportion? Hmmmmm. What was it Henry Louis gates was saying???

 
prison • United States • convict • criminal • prisoner • incarceration • life sentence

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