The lengthening of prison terms starting in the 1880s is well documented as the main driver of mass incarceration. Cause for this increase are changes in policy, not changes in crime. Including: establishing mandatory minimums, extending wait times before parole hearings, transferring juveniles to the adult court system, and expanding sentence lengths based on criminal history. The expansion of life sentences is one outcome of these policies. The number of people serving life sentences continues to grow even while serious, violent crime has been declining for the past 25 years. Increasingly long prison terms, created through enactment of mandatory minimums and habitual offender laws, have not been shown to produce the public safety benefits they promise. Their ongoing incarceration has no effect on public safety, and is both wasteful and inhumane. This is because most people “age out” of crime, and therefore produce diminishing returns for public safety as people enter their thirties and beyond. A better approach to protecting public safety would be to cap sentencing at 20 years in prison, with exceptions for individuals who pose a clear threat to public safety.
Expansion of Life Imprisonment
At the onset of mass incarceration, the US incarcerated 200,000 people in state and federal prisons. Today, there are more people serving life sentences than the entire prison population of the early 1970s.
The number of people serving life sentences - including life without the possibility of parole (53,290), life with the possibility of parole (108,667), and virtual life sentences (44,311) - is at an all time high.
The number of people serving life sentences has grown faster than the prison population. The life sentenced population has continued to rise even as prison populations have recently seen modest declines and crime rates are at historic lows. Though violent crime rates increased during the 1980s, they have fallen by 49% since 1991. Many other countries have experienced a similar drop in crime, and didn’t rely on harsher punishments during this period. Although the US represents only 4% of the world’s population, it holds 40% of the world's life sentenced population.
Factors Contributing to the Growth of the Life Sentenced Population
The growth of the lifer population is due to changes in policy, not changes in crime. There are 2 large factors contributing to the rise:
1) More people sentenced to life imprisonment.
A main force in the growth of life sentences has been the escalation of mandatory sentencing and habitual offender laws.
Rather than targeting individuals who pose the greatest risk to public safety, in many cases these laws have widened to impose life sentences on individuals who do not require decades long incarceration for public safety purposes.
2) Delays in paroles and restricting communications for qualified prisoners.
Many jurisdictions have made parole more elusive by delaying parole hearings, politicizing parole board actions to reduce parole grant rates, and limiting procedural rights at parole hearings.
Characteristics of People Serving Life Sentences
Offenses Over 17,000 people serving life have been convicted of a nonviolent offense, including 5,000 convicted of a drug offense. 59% of lifers are serving sentences for homicide, 17% for rape or sexual assault, and 15% for aggravated assault, robbery, or kidnapping.
Race POC are overrepresented in prisons and jails, but the disparity is even more evident in the life sentenced population. 1 in 5 African Americans in prison is serving a life sentence.
Gender Over 6,000 women are serving life or virtual life sentences. Nationwide, 1 of every 15 incarcerated women is serving a life sentence.
While men comprise the overwhelming proportion of people in prison for life, the number of women serving life sentences has risen at a faster rate than for men in recent years. Between 2008 and 2016, female lifers increased by 20%, compared to a 15% increase for men.
Compared to men, women serving life sentences report higher levels of psychiatric disorders, histories of physical and sexual violence, and previous suicidal attempts.
Juvenile Incarceration
The US is unique in the world in its use of life imprisonment without parole for crimes committed by juveniles. In addition to the more than 2,000 serving life without parole, there are 7,000 juveniles serving life with parole, and another 2,000 serving virtual life terms.