Should 'life imprisonment' really mean 'imprisonment for life'?

button moon

life should mean life, they took a life, and they should have to sacrifice their own for it (kill them i say), they are a waste of space, time, money and oxygen

G-Unit

yes i believe it should not less than life then its not life inprisonment

Twinkle

ABSOLUTELY, COULDN'T AGREE MORE, LIFE SHOULD MEAN LIFE

X

mona ferrell

in some places 20 yrs. is life.
what the term actually means is no longer than "life".
how would you feel if someone you loved or knew got a life without sentence (and yes that means life without the possibility of ever being returned to society) and they were innocent?
Maybe people should put themselves in someone elses place b4 they are so quick to judge

caroline1409f1

I believe 'life' should mean the life of the prisoner. If a more 'lenient' sentence is passed it should be 20 - 30 - 40 years (or what's seen as appropriate). If they are going to do 17 and 21 years why isn't that their sentence?

jacg

I don't know that it would make them think any more about it than they do already. For these people, the most serious matter, death, means nothing to them already so spending their life in prison will mean nothing either. They would become institutionalised and have access to more drugs inside prison than they would outside. They would possibly even be revered inside.

I appreciate that life should mean life for some crimes but even the prospect of actually spending your whole life in prison as in many states in US doesn't dissuade such people from their actions.

There is also an argument that if you offer a criminal no opportunity to be released earlier, then he will never have the chance to regret his actions and atone for them. If they are to spend the rest of their lives in prison anyway, these sorts of people may consider they might as well go on a crazy bender which will obviously be worse.

I'm not really sure what the answer is. Rehabilitation might be one but there are some that can't be or aren't worth rehabilitating. They could also feign rehabilitation, get released and start all over again.

Maybe some form of restorative justice would be better where they were made to face the relatives of their victims would be better and may make them remorseful.

punkrawkprincess81

Hell yes. They dont deserve to have the chance to make a life for themselves if theyve ruined someone elses

blondie

Yes, I agree, life should mean life.

Bio-Hazard

Yes without doubt,,,,,,

CAPTAIN BEAR

Life should be life, parole to be given after the age of
50 years at the discretion of the parole board. Other-
wise the sentence has no meaning or deterrent at all.

Norm

Yes, keep them in jail

jozzie

if it actually meant what it said people may be deterred yes life is meant to be till it is over

purplepadma

Depends on what your goal is in incarcerating someone. If the aim is pure punishment, then maybe. If the aim is public protection, then maybe yes, if they continue to pose a danger. If the goal is to change people, then anyone working in a prison will tell you that there is a limit to what can be achieved in this regard while the person is in custody. At the end of the day there are only so many courses you can put someone one, and very few prisons are able to offer the kind of intensive therapy which is sometimes needed.

Regarding your comment about thinking about the consequences: study after study shows that longer sentences don't work as a deterrant. It's a lot more compex than that. People don't usually make neat cost benefit analyses when they're about to commit a serious violent offence, or they underestimate their chances of being apprehended, or they didn't know the law in the first place, or they weren't making a rational decision anyway due to emotional distress, mental health problems, drugs/alcohol, etc.

natalie.waterson@btinternet.com

i still ......................................
believe a life or a life.......!!!

like you say if this practise went on people would not freely go out and do the things they do.....law makes these peoples lives easier.....why have a punishment if its not a long term punishment for those nasty people? it will never change i guess....or this nasty ness would stop huh?...why let them get a chance to have sum life when they have ruined an others....? i think a along term sentence should remain that

No-no

Prison is (in theory) a place to keep criminals. In this place they should think about their crimes and regret for what they did.
So I think it is fair to release criminals from prison, as long as they know that what they did was wrong.
Unfortunately, nowadays, prison is nothing more than a place where you learn how to improve your criminal skills. And once they are released from jail, they will land in the middle of a society that keeps pointing the finger to them for their crimes.
Bottom line, I don't think we should judge for the rest of its life, a person that made a mistake (no matter how bad it was). As long as there is life, there is hope for change.

Nick P

Yes definitely. The fiance and family of the lawyer killed in London will not be seeing him in 17 odd years. The 2 guys that killed him took away a life and should be punished accordingly. Anything less is an insult to the victims family.

John C

Yes you are so right. But as you are aware this is not the government of the people or this kind of crap wouldn't happen. Would it?

wildand5150

I agree, life should mean life, bury them on the prison grounds.

Citizen DeCat

I agree with you. It seems that prisoners can get out early for good behaviour. I would argue that if they had shown good behaviour in the first place, they wouldn't be in prison.

Yes, life should mean life. For lesser sentences, if prisoners do not show good behaviour, they should be kept in for longer than the original sentence.

As for prisons being full, why not build a big one on Gruinard Island, off Scotland. A British equivalent of Alcatraz.

lonewolf1

I think that when someone gets "life" in prison, it should be regarded the same as the "death penalty", because if they are sentenced to "life", should'nt they die in prison?? Well, I think that once a dirtbag, is given "life" or "death", they should be escorted out of the court room after sentencing, and taken to another room, for execution. I think this way dirtbags get more of a message, than sitting in prisons, earning degrees, watching cable, and pumping iron so when they get out they can cause more forceful harm. I don't think its fair for death penalty dirtbags to live life for 10+ years before they are put to death. Think of the tax money that would be saved. And the peace of mind for the victims.

Victoria M

I totally agree. This whole business when people commit murder and then only serve 'a few years' makes a mockery of the sentence. I think life should mean life. The justice system in the UK is a joke..

Bel

Definitely!!
I really don't get the judicial system at all. Someone can brutally attack and rape a person and go to jail for say, 5 years. Another person can commit financial fraud (i.e. no one has been physically harmed) and go down for 20 years.

Where's the logic in that?

Send the b**tards to jail and throw away the key. Or better still, use them in lab tests instead of rats (semi-serious joke).

Sky Boy

I agree with you....a killer must be sentenced to death....otherwise.....we pave a way for him to kill more...

claudine sophia

I agree with you. It is apparent that sometimes there are loops in the law system!!

I feel bad for the family of the man who died!!

Love

mol

Yes you take a life you must give a life

Once again you forget the most important point. The killers human rights are more important than the victims, so they wont be allowed to stay in prison for 'LIFE' as this would be detrimental to their lives.

HANG THE xxxxxxx

littlebluefeet

i think life imprisonment should mean life. IE. until the life of the prisoner has ended. not as it stands now. it does not really put people off.maybe life for life will. not very p.c .i know but think of the victims family's. also the prisoners family will hate it to,giving them a hard time for putting them through hardship also.

Alison of the Shire

Life should mean life. The justice system needs to get it's act together.

Mags

I totally agree "Life should mean life" - they should also be made to work whilst in "Her Majesty's" jail.

The "world famous" train robbers got more than murders today and no one was murdered.

Some even get a "new life and identify" all paid for by us tax payers.

I think you're probably right and they would think twice if sentences given were more harsh.

Enter Your Message or Comment

User Name:
User Email:
Post a comment: