Life Sentencing in America: Current Trends and New Avenues of Research

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract

The massive use of life sentences in the United States is unequal to its use in any other country in the world. Current estimates show that the sharp rise in life imprisonment in America has continued its upward trend despite modest reforms in other areas of the justice system and growing concerns about the sustainability mass imprisonment more broadly. The papers in this panel will explore new dimensions in the study of life sentences, including human and fiscal costs, international comparisons, and the need to incorporate all forms of perpetual confinement in the discourse on the life sentences.

Sub Unit

• Area VII: Criminal Justice Policy and Practice / 49: Sentencing

Individual Presentations

• Still Life: Current Estimates of Life, LWOP, and Virtual Life Sentences across the U.S. - Ashley Marie Nellis, The Sentencing Project

• How Different Are Lifers from Other Long-Term Prisoners? - Lila Kazemian, John Jay College of Criminal Justice

• Historical Modes of Perpetual Penal Confinement: Theories and Practices Before Life Without Parole - Christopher Seeds, New York University

• The Fiscal and Human Costs of Life without Parole - Margaret E. Leigey, The College of New Jersey; Doris Schartmueller, California State University, Chico