Life without parole is examined as a form of death penalty, namely, death by incarceration as distinct from death by execution. Original interviews with a sample of prisoners (condemned prisoners and life-without-parole prisoners) and prison officers are used to develop a picture of the experience of life under sentence of death by incarceration. It is argued that offenders sentenced to death by incarceration do not pose a special danger to others in the prison world or in the free world and that the suffering they experience is comparable to the suffering endured by condemned prisoners. Life without parole thus emerges as a viable alternative to the capital punishment. L ife without parole is sometimes called a "true life sentence" because offenders are sentenced to spend the remainder of their natural lives in prison. A better term for this sentence might be death by incarceration, as these persons are, in effect, sentenced to die in prison. Indeed, it is argued here that the sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole can be equally as painful as the death penalty, albeit in different ways. The sentence can thus be thought of as "our other death penalty."
What should witnesses to executions see if they are to bear witness to the death penalty? At what point has a witness seen an execution in full, and by that seeing, held officials accountable for a punishment carried out in the name of the larger society? We identify the key elements of an execution and discuss ways to provide execution witnesses with a reasonably full appreciation of this profound exercise in state power.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.