This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Johnson, R. Articles by McGunigall-Smith, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Life Without Parole, America's Other Death Penalty

Notes on Life Under Sentence of Death by Incarceration

American University, Washington, D.C.

Sandra McGunigall-Smith

Utah Valley University, Orem

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.

Key Words: prison adjustment • life without parole • death by incarceration • death penalty • capital punishment • supermax

The Prison Journal, Vol. 88, No. 2, 328-346 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0032885508319256


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?