Society Journal

There are a record number of inmates, approximately 140,610, locked up in both federal and state prisons currently serving life sentences with nearly one third of these prisoners having no possibility for parole.  This data was compiled through research conducted by various organizations, many of them who are opposed to incarceration and support humane alternatives.

Since 1992 the number of inmates sentenced to life without parole has more than tripled.  This report comes from The Sentencing Project whose report is regularly cited for government notations in academia and peer reviews. These reports explain the criminal justice policies and in one particular report cite the real reasons: the rising costs of incarceration and they urge lawmakers to abolish life without parole.

Tampa criminal attorneys are always interested in what The Sentencing Project has to say because they are defending people who are trying to stay out of prison.  This latest recommendation from The Sentencing Project that life without parole be abolished was met with strong opposition from law enforcement who said life sentences, including those without parole, help drive down violent criminal acts.

The president of the National District Attorneys Association, Joseph Cassilly commented that long-term prison sentences are “a huge drain on governmental resources.” He went on to say life sentences are appropriate for violent offenders and some repeat drug offenders/dealers.

Tampa criminal lawyers along with other reviewers unfortunately found “overwhelming” ethical and racial disparities for those serving life sentences in The Sentencing Project’s reference guide entitled “No Exit”.  They found 66 percent are non-white and 77 percent of juveniles sentenced to life in prison are also non-white.

Co-author of the report, Ashley Nellis commented, “Life sentences imposed on juveniles represents a fundamental and unwise shift from the long-standing tradition that juveniles are less culpable than adults . . . and are capable of change.”

Included in the report is the cost of housing an aging prison population which is now on the rise.  A state could expect to pay $1 million for each prisoner who spends at least 40 years incarcerated.  Tampa DUI lawyers would like to keep more prisoners out of the overcrowded jails, however they do not want to see them driving along the highways; therefore they feel that it is a catch 22 for those prisoners who do not clean up their act.