The Meaning of Life
The Case for Abolishing Life Sentences
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- $33.99
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- $33.99
Publisher Description
"I can think of no authors more qualified to research the complex impact of life sentences than Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis. They have the expertise to track down the information that all citizens need to know and the skills to translate that research into accessible and powerful prose."
—Heather Ann Thompson, author of the Pulitzer Prize–winning Blood in the Water
From the author of the classic Race to Incarcerate, a forceful and necessary argument for eliminating life sentences, including profiles of six people directly impacted by life sentences by formerly incarcerated author Kerry Myers
Most Western democracies have few or no people serving life sentences, yet here in the United States more than 200,000 people are sentenced to such prison terms.
Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis of The Sentencing Project argue that there is no practical or moral justification for a sentence longer than twenty years. Harsher sentences have been shown to have little effect on crime rates, since people "age out" of crime—meaning that we're spending a fortune on geriatric care for older prisoners who pose little threat to public safety. Extreme punishment for serious crime also has an inflationary effect on sentences across the spectrum, helping to account for severe mandatory minimums and other harsh punishments.
A thoughtful and stirring call to action, The Meaning of Life also features moving profiles of a half dozen people affected by life sentences, written by former "lifer" and award-winning writer Kerry Myers. The book will tie in to a campaign spearheaded by The Sentencing Project and offers a much-needed road map to a more humane criminal justice system.
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Mauer (Race to Incarcerate) and Nellis expose the problematic consequences of life sentencing in this well-argued collaboration. Drawing on personal stories (including six profiles of prisoners serving life sentences written by former "lifer" Kerry Myers), research, and years of experience at the Sentencing Project, where they work, they argue that life imprisonment, to which more than 200,000 people are subject in the U.S., is ineffective and costly; violates legal and human rights norms; disproportionately affects marginalized people; and does not meaningfully increase public safety (for example, someone who murdered an abuser and a mafia hit man may receive the same sentence, despite posing very different levels of danger to the public). They note that the U.S. imposes more severe sentences on more people than other developed nations and propose a blueprint for policy change: imposing a 20-year sentencing maximum and establishing more helpful services to ensure convicts are "equipped to reenter society in a meaningful, self-sustaining way." The authors make a strong case for abolishing life sentencing in this trenchant and urgent book. Photos.
