"To More Inmates, Life Term Means Dying Behind Bars / With Tougher Laws and Political Pressure, Growing Number Will Never Get Out.".

* "To More Inmates, Life Term Means Dying Behind Bars / With Tougher Laws and Political Pressure, Growing Number Will Never Get Out." The New York Times headline-writers seem to think that's a bad thing. The jump headline says that these new, for-real life terms mean that the "Sentence Is Death in All but Name." It's a death sentence, that is, except that the prisoner doesn't get executed. (If the actual execution of a prisoner is no worse than a life sentence, perhaps someone should inform the Times's editorial board.) The reporter, Adam Liptak, says that experts say that the practice "raises a host of questions." Liptak isn't saying that he opposes life terms, you understand. It's just experts. Raising questions. Liptak is right to suggest that the increased use of life sentences results in some injustices. He highlights cases in which, on his description, prisoners seem to be serving excessive sentences. But a relaxed policy on sentencing would lead to injustices, too, and life sentences that are not for life make a mockery of the law. Most people will want to correct specific injustices but not to go back to the days of easy sentencing, and most people are right.