Download or read book Life Imprisonment written by Dirk Van Zyl Smit and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2019-01-14 with total page 465 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life imprisonment has replaced capital punishment as the most common sentence imposed for heinous crimes worldwide. As a consequence, it has become the leading issue in international criminal justice reform. In the first global survey of prisoners serving life terms, Dirk van Zyl Smit and Catherine Appleton argue for a human rights–based reappraisal of this exceptionally harsh punishment. The authors estimate that nearly half a million people face life behind bars, and the number is growing as jurisdictions both abolish death sentences and impose life sentences more freely for crimes that would never have attracted capital punishment. Life Imprisonment explores this trend through systematic data collection and legal analysis, persuasively illustrated by detailed maps, charts, tables, and comprehensive statistical appendices. The central question—can life sentences be just?—is straightforward, but the answer is complicated by the vast range of penal practices that fall under the umbrella of life imprisonment. Van Zyl Smit and Appleton contend that life imprisonment without possibility of parole can never be just. While they have some sympathy for the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, they conclude that life imprisonment, in many of the ways it is implemented worldwide, infringes on the requirements of justice. They also examine the outliers—states that have no life imprisonment—to highlight the possibility of abolishing life sentences entirely. Life Imprisonment is an incomparable resource for lawyers, lawmakers, criminologists, policy scholars, and penal-reform advocates concerned with balancing justice and public safety.
Download or read book The Meaning of Life written by Marc Mauer and published by The New Press. This book was released on 2018-12-11 with total page 154 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I can think of no authors more qualified to research the complex impact of life sentences than Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis. They have the expertise to track down the information that all citizens need to know and the skills to translate that research into accessible and powerful prose." —Heather Ann Thompson, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Blood in the Water From the author of the classic Race to Incarcerate, a forceful and necessary argument for eliminating life sentences, including profiles of six people directly impacted by life sentences by formerly incarcerated author Kerry Myers Most Western democracies have few or no people serving life sentences, yet here in the United States more than 200,000 people are sentenced to such prison terms. Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis of The Sentencing Project argue that there is no practical or moral justification for a sentence longer than twenty years. Harsher sentences have been shown to have little effect on crime rates, since people "age out" of crime—meaning that we're spending a fortune on geriatric care for older prisoners who pose little threat to public safety. Extreme punishment for serious crime also has an inflationary effect on sentences across the spectrum, helping to account for severe mandatory minimums and other harsh punishments. A thoughtful and stirring call to action, The Meaning of Life also features moving profiles of a half dozen people affected by life sentences, written by former "lifer" and award-winning writer Kerry Myers. The book will tie in to a campaign spearheaded by The Sentencing Project and offers a much-needed road map to a more humane criminal justice system.
Download or read book After Life Imprisonment written by Marieke Liem and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Study of over sixty homicide offenders who served long sentences before being released"--Foreword.
Download or read book The Forgotten Men written by Margaret E. Leigey and published by Rutgers University Press. This book was released on 2015-05-08 with total page 243 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today there are approximately fifty thousand prisoners in American prisons serving life without parole, having been found guilty of crimes ranging from murder and rape to burglary, carjacking, and drug offences. In The Forgotten Men, criminologist Margaret E. Leigey provides an insightful account of a group of aging inmates imprisoned for at least twenty years, with virtually no chance of release. These men make up one of the most marginalized segments of the contemporary U.S. prison population. Considered too dangerous for rehabilitation, ignored by prison administrators, and overlooked by courts disinclined to review such sentences, these prisoners grow increasingly cut off from family and the outside world. Drawing on in-depth interviews with twenty-five such prisoners, Leigey gives voice to these extremely marginalized inmates and offers a look at how they struggle to cope. She reveals, for instance, that the men believe that permanent incarceration is as inhumane as capital punishment, calling life without parole “the hard death penalty.” Indeed, after serving two decades in prison, some wished that they had received the death penalty instead. Leigey also recounts the ways in which the prisoners attempt to construct meaningful lives inside the bleak environment where they will almost certainly live out their lives. Every state in the union (except Alaska) has the life-without-parole sentencing option, despite its controversial nature and its staggering cost to the taxpayer. The Forgotten Men provides a much-needed analysis of the policies behind life-without-parole sentencing, arguing that such sentences are overused and lead to serious financial and ethical dilemmas.
Download or read book Life Sentences written by Wilbert Rideau and published by Three Rivers Press. This book was released on 1992 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing on their award-winning reporting for the Louisiana State Penitentiary's uncensored newsmagazine, The Angolite, Wilbert Rideau and Ron Wikberg present the stark reality of life behind bars and the human, political, and fiscal costs of our long-running war on crime.
Download or read book Life In Prison written by Stanley "Tookie" Williams and published by Chronicle Books. This book was released on 2001-02 with total page 90 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Williams, the cofounder of the Crips gang and a nominee for both the Nobel Peace Prize and the Nobel Prize in Literature, became an anti-gang crusader before he was executed in December 2005. In this work he debunked urban myths about prison life and challenged young people to choose the right path. Selected for the Young Adult Library Services Association's Popular Paperbacks for Young Adults list.
Download or read book Doing Life written by Howard Zehr and published by . This book was released on 1996-12 with total page 140 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: What they have done and how they cope with prison life.
Download or read book Life Sentence written by Robert LaSardo and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-03-01 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After a long, and deeply philosophical, conversation with Robert LaSardo, I eagerly awaited this book that you are about to read. I was not disappointed. Left deep in thought, I sat in a long contemplative silence. While I always enjoyed Mr. LaSardo as an actor, I discovered I like him even better as who he is, behind the face he shows the public. Often, if you are in the public eye, you develop a persona (ego) and become someone that society, fans and publicists want you to be. You can sometimes lose aspects of yourself. The truly courageous ones overcome this through strength of character and merge the two halves of themselves to be whole. In the end, people will either love you for who you are, imperfections and all, or they will pull back, fading away because you spoiled the 'image' they had of you. It is sad that the creative person loses a part of themselves so that they can be known and make a good living. Yet, it is the love of art, writing and acting - the real, inner person we are is what made us do it in the first place - that can often become extinguished by the machine of ratings, demands of talent agents, advisers or by the shine of fame and glamour. Throughout his career, Robert LaSardo has found his niche in Hollywood, playing the devious criminal. Often evil personified in his roles, he has played the villain we love, on the award-winning series Nip/Tuck and on both CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and CSI: Miami. We also see his more recent performances in Ghost Whisperer and his own independent film Never Down, he continues to win the hearts of his audience. In Life Sentence: a true story about love, lunacy and fame, you will encounter the man behind the villain he plays, and come to understand the depth of his heart, his will and desire to accomplish despite the hardships that will make you cry. This book will make you feel the triumph of his success, as you are drawn into his life. ~ From the introduction.
Download or read book Sentence written by Daniel Genis and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-02-22 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A memoir of a decade in prison by a well-educated young addict known as the "Apologetic Bandit" In 2003 Daniel Genis, the son of a famous Soviet émigré writer, broadcaster, and culture critic, was fresh out of NYU when he faced a serious heroin addiction that led him into debt and ultimately crime. After he was arrested for robbing people at knifepoint, he was nicknamed the “Apologetic Bandit” in the press, given his habit of expressing regret to his victims as he took their cash. He was sentenced to twelve years—ten with good behavior, a decade he survived by reading 1,046 books, taking up weightlifting, having philosophical discussions with his fellow inmates, working at a series of prison jobs, and in general observing an existence for which nothing in his life had prepared him. Genis describes in unsparing and vivid detail the realities of daily life in the New York penal system. In his journey from Rikers Island and through a series of upstate institutions, he encounters violence on an almost daily basis, while learning about the social strata of gangs, the “court” system that sets geographic boundaries in prison yards, how sex was obtained, the workings of the black market in drugs and more practical goods, the inventiveness required for everyday tasks such as cooking, and how debilitating solitary confinement actually is—all while trying to preserve his relationship with his wife, whom he recently married. Written with empathy and wit, Sentence is a strikingly powerful memoir of the brutalities of prison and how one man survived them, leaving its walls with this book inside him, “one made of pain and fear and laughter and lots of other books.”
Download or read book Life Imprisonment and Human Rights written by Dirk van Zyl Smit and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2016-12-01 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In many jurisdictions today, life imprisonment is the most severe penalty that can be imposed. Despite this, it is a relatively under-researched form of punishment and no meaningful attempt has been made to understand its full human rights implications. This important collection fills that gap by addressing these two key questions: what is life imprisonment and what human rights are relevant to it? These questions are explored from the perspective of a range of jurisdictions, in essays that draw on both empirical and doctrinal research. Under the editorship of two leading scholars in the field, this innovative and important work will be a landmark publication in the field of penal studies and human rights.
Download or read book Life After Life Imprisonment written by Catherine Appleton and published by OUP UK. This book was released on 2010-07-08 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most contentious and sensitive topics in criminal justice, Life after Life Imprisonment looks at the release and resettlement of life-sentenced offenders in England and Wales - where there are very few prisoners in the system for whom 'life' means life. By providing an in-depth analysis of the post-prison experiences of 138 discretionary life-sentenced offenders, all of whom released during the mid-1990s, this book looks at the reality facing Lifers as they are released at some time during their sentences, usually on very long licences, to be closely monitored and supervised by probation officers. Using accessible and comprehensive data, it examines key legal developments within the criminal justice system for discretionary life-sentenced offenders, explores the frontline experiences of the probation officers charged with supervising life-sentenced offenders, and analyses the 'stories' or life narratives of a group of individuals who have committed some of the most serious crimes. It also examines the process of recall for life-sentenced prisoners and explores key factors associated with failure in the community. Of interest to legal scholars and criminologists, as well as practitioners in the field, Catherine Appleton's book offers a major insight into how societies respond to serious crime and identifies important elements of successful reintegration for released life-sentenced offenders.
Download or read book Writing After Life written by Leslie Willis and published by Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. This book was released on 2018-09-22 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Four former gang members, four life sentences, and four opportunities to start a new life. Less than eighteen months after their release from decades in prison, these four men write about their past, present, and goals for the future. Through sharing their first-hand experiences, they offer insight into the root causes of gang involvement and criminality, the process of personal transformation in prison, and the challenges and rewards of receiving a second chance at life.
Download or read book Exploring the Mandatory Life Sentence for Murder written by Barry Mitchell and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2012-10-19 with total page 196 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Murder is often regarded as both the 'ultimate' and a unique crime, and whereas courts are normally given discretion in sentencing offenders, for murder the sentence is mandatory – indeterminate imprisonment. Since the crime and the punishment come as a 'package deal' this book looks at both the legal nature of the offence and at the current operation of the mandatory life sentence. Not only does the book adopt a critical approach, by assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the status quo, it also draws upon comparative material from both common and civil law jurisdictions in an attempt to provide a comprehensive exploration of these issues. The need for public confidence in the criminal justice system is particularly acute in the way it deals with the most serious homicides. In this book the authors report findings from the first systematic exploration of public attitudes to sentencing murder in this or any other common law jurisdiction. The picture of public opinion emerging from this recent large-scale nationwide qualitative and quantitative survey, funded by the Nuffield Foundation, is likely to surprise many, and will be of interest to all jurisdictions where the mandatory life sentence for murder has been questioned.
Download or read book Guidelines Manual written by United States Sentencing Commission and published by . This book was released on 1996-11 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Life Without Parole written by Victor Hassine and published by . This book was released on 1996 with total page 182 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles the history of the Grand Trunk Corporation from its inception in 1971 through 1992, drawing on corporate records, oral histories, and archival material. Offers insight into deregulation, free trade, repositioning of basic industry, and the realities of the new economic order, and examines expectations for Grand Trunk Western, Central Vermont, and Duluth, Winnipeg and Pacific. Includes bandw photos. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
Download or read book Life Sentences in the Federal System written by United States Sentencing Commission and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2015-03-07 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Life imprisonment sentences are rare in the federal criminal justice system. Virtually all offenders convicted of a federal crime are released from prison eventually and return to society or, in the case of illegal aliens, are deported to their country of origin. Yet in fiscal year 2013 federal judges imposed a sentence of life imprisonment without parole on 153 offenders. Another 168 offenders received a sentence of a specific term of years that was so long it had the practical effect of being a life sentence. Although together these offenders represent only 0.4 percent of all offenders sentenced that year, this type of sentence sets them apart from the rest of the offender population. This report examines life sentences in the federal system and the offenders on whom this punishment is imposed. There are numerous federal criminal statutes that authorize a life imprisonment sentence to be imposed as the maximum sentence. The most commonly used of these statutes involve drug trafficking, racketeering, and firearms crimes. Additionally, there are at least 45 statutes that require a life sentence to be imposed as the minimum penalty. These mandatory minimum penalties generally are required in cases involving the killing of a federal official or other government employee, piracy, or repeat offenses involving drug trafficking or weapons. In fiscal year 2013, 69 of the 153 offenders who received a sentence of life imprisonment were subject to a mandatory minimum penalty requiring the court to impose that sentence.
Download or read book Life After Murder written by Nancy Mullane and published by Public Affairs. This book was released on 2012-06-26 with total page 386 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An award-winning journalist and producer of This American Life traces the stories of five convicted murderers to assess their struggles for redemption, efforts toward parole and first steps in transitioning back to civilian life. 25,000 first printing.
