County-Level Drivers of Life Sentences

• In Event: Taking a Second Look at Life without Parole: Where it’s Imposed and Mechanisms for Reform

Abstract

The latest data show that one out of every 6 people in prison is serving a life sentence; 28% of them have no chance for parole. Over the last several decades, a great deal of scholarly attention has been given to both capital punishment and mass incarceration. Often overlooked in these discussions, however, is the massive expansion of life-without-parole (LWOP) sentences, which some have referred to as “death by incarceration.” Although the overall imprisonment rate in the US has declined by 30% since 2008, the number of people serving LWOP has increased by 38% since then. Therefore, as states consider various reforms to scale back incarceration rates, more attention needs to be paid to this expansion of parole-ineligible life sentences. There are a number of hypotheses for explaining LWOP’s growth, and while scholars have been giving more attention to LWOP in recent years, most analyses focus on national or state figures. Yet, since criminal justice policies are actually carried out at the local level by county officials in county courts, to get a better understanding of LWOP’s expansion, it is imperative that local-level analyses be conducted. This study does just that by examining the factors that drive LWOP’s usage at the county level.

Authors

• Ashley Marie Nellis, American University

• Ross Kleinstuber, University of Pittsburgh - Johnstown