# Define life sentence for me **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 6, 2006, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653 "2006-06-06T18:45:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653/41 "2006-06-08T17:57:21Z")
**Nametag** , I doubt it is unconstitutional to not have parole hearings; I’ve yet to hear of a sentence of Life Without Parole being successfully challenged. Having said that, I’m not here to argue the law. I’d lose. I’m here to rant that a man who commits murder during the commission of a felony, escapes, then is captured with weapons in his possession, should never, ever, come up for parole. I’m here to rant that a man given 6 consecutive 25-to-Life sentences should not have his first parole hearing for 150 years. If Berkowitz only serves 30 years behind bars (unlikely, but that’s not the point), then what’s the use of sentencing him to 6 consecutive life sentences? Isn’t that a bit of a misnomer? ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653/42 "2006-06-08T21:12:37Z")
**Nametag** , the problem I have is not so much that Berkowitz is being given parole hearings. I just don’t understand the point to consecutive life sentences, when the term seems to mean nothing, in a legal sense, that the dictionary recognizes. IIRC Berkowitz was tried and sentenced just after the US Supreme Court decision that originally struck down the death penalty in the US. So, I view the intent of imposing multiple consecutive life sentences as being a way to reassure the public that the person so sentenced won’t be allowed out of prison. Ever. And _that_ seems a bit two-faced on the part of the judge involved, at least. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653/43 "2006-06-08T21:18:57Z")
I don’t think a life sentence is a good idea. I also don’t think parole is a good idea. We don’t have parole in Virginia. (An exception being made currently for those serving sentences imposed before the change in law.) We now expect judges and juries to impose the actual period they feel is appropriate for the crime that was committed. I also feel that concurrent sentencing is a bad idea. It would seem to engender a feeling that “in for a penny, in for a pound” is a reasonable attitude for a felon to take. Why not commit another felony while robbing a bank? I will get consecutive fifteen year sentences, so it won’t matter. And if you get six consecutive sentences, without parole, that add up to 180 years, when you die, you don’t leave prison in a box, you get put in a box in prison until the 180 years is over. Then, if anyone still cares, they can claim your remains. Tris ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653/44 "2006-06-08T21:32:16Z")
**Tris** , I disagree. Completely and vehemently. For all the problems that parole can be seen to have, I think it’s useful to keep it as a carrot in the hands of the corrections persons charged with administrating the sentences that society imposes. And punishing a corpse? Egads. No, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653/45 "2006-06-08T21:34:18Z")
> [@Triskadecamus](#): > > And if you get six consecutive sentences, without parole, that add up to 180 years, when you die, you don’t leave prison in a box, you get put in a box in prison until the 180 years is over. Then, if anyone still cares, they can claim your remains. Why do you thinks the convict’s family should be punished? ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [June 8, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653/46 "2006-06-08T23:08:52Z")
Jesus, guys, it’s pretty simple. Either someone is sentenced to a maximum of life in prison with the possibility of parole, or life in prison without the possiblilty of parole. If it was the former, they get to have parole hearings. It doesn’t mean that they will ever be parolled. Simple. Anybody have the Google-fu to find a cite for how many ultra-violent types like the ones being mentioned actually GET parole? I mean, for Manson, it was just a yearly excuse to carve a new swastika in his forehead and get a few column inches. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/define-life-sentence-for-me/359653.md?page=2)