Life Without Parole Equals Death By Incarceration - Rethinking Crime
And Punishment

The ‘life without parole’ proposal for committing a murder on the third strike, needs to be debated and discussed with the same level of seriousness and analysis as if the government was reintroducing the death penalty, says Kim Workman, of Rethinking Crime and Punishment.

“Those who are sentenced to life without parole in the United States, refer to it as ‘death by incarceration’, because offenders are sentenced to die in prison.”

“They argue that life without parole is as bad, or even worse than the death penalty.”

“For many of these prisoners, every day is a living hell. They find hell in the fact that there is “no exit” from the company of people they hold in contempt, or in fear. The constant fear of violence and homosexual acts, and the absence of respect and concern shown by prison staff, just wears the prisoner down. As one prisoner put it, “ There is no expression of love, no possibility of redemption – for me that is a fate worse than death.”

“This miserable existence only ends when the prisoner dies—alone, unmourned, a disgrace in the person’s own eyes as well as in the eyes of society. “

“This is one issue that deserves more than a populist response. It should be the subject of a soul-searching debate, one which fully explores the moral, legal and human rights aspects of this proposal.”

ENDS

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