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Days Without End: Life Sentences and Penal Reform
Loaded on Jan. 15, 2012
by Marie Gottschalk
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2012, page 1
Death fades into insignificance when compared with life imprisonment. To spend each night in jail, day after day, year after year, gazing at the bars and longing for freedom, is indeed expiation.
Filed under:
Statistics/Trends,
Sentencing,
Parole,
U.S. Sentencing Guidelines,
Pardons/Clemency,
Three Strikes,
Death Penalty.
Location:
United States of America.
—Lewis E. Lawes, warden of Sing Sing prison, 1920–41
The Great Recession has spurred the reexamination of many …
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More from this issue:
- Days Without End: Life Sentences and Penal Reform, by Marie Gottschalk
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- Family of Prisoner Strangled in Oklahoma GEO Private Prison Awarded $6.5 Million, by Matthew Clarke
- Florida, Arizona Sell and Lease Back Prisons and Other State Buildings
- The Societal Impact of the Prison Industrial Complex, or Incarceration for Fun and Profit—Mostly Profit, by Alex Friedmann
- Virginia Wrongful Death Jail Suit Against Correct Care Solutions Settled for $1 Million
- Problems at North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation Crime Lab
- Federal Judge Sanctions Florida Sheriff’s Attorney for Threatening Plaintiff with Arrest
- PLN Wins $230,000 in Settlement that Ends Spokane, Washington Jail’s Postcard-Only Rule
- Budget Crisis Closes Oregon Prison for First Time in 159 Years
- Deaths at Texas Jail Reveal Health Care Deficiencies
- California Prison Industry Authority Offers to Replace Offensive Grave Markers
- Texas Prisoner’s Denial of Dentures Claim Affirmed in Part, Reversed in Part by Fifth Circuit
- Oregon Prisoner Property Claims Cost State $60,000 Annually
- Typewriters Alive and Well in American Prisons Despite Reports of Their Demise
- Review: Directory of Inmate Shopping Services E-Commerce, by Michael Brodheim
- Washington Prison Guard’s Murder Results in Demotions, Firings and $26,000 Fine, by Mark Wilson
- California Criminalizes Cell Phone Smuggling, Seeks Technology to Block Cell Phone Calls from Prisons
- North Carolina Warden Charged With Obstruction in Beating Coverup
- BOP Fails to Prove Non-Exhaustion Following Pavey Hearing, by Mark Wilson
- Illinois Prison Wages Cannot be Attached to Satisfy Incarceration Costs, by David Reutter
- North Carolina Jury Awards $10 Million in Wrongful Death Suit Against Taser, by Matthew Clarke
- Audit Finds California Prison Employees Routinely Work Less Than 40 Hours a Week
- CMS Pays $275,000 in New York Prisoner’s Jail Death
- Tennessee Court Again Orders CCA to Produce Records in PLN Public Records Case
- Prisoner Bike Repair Program Benefits St. Louis Kids
- Aramark Loses Laundry Contract to Oregon Prisoners
- Russian Prison Officials Sentenced for Torture and Rape of Prisoners, by Matthew Clarke
- California Muslim Prisoner Afforded Access to Kosher Diet Pending Implementation of “Religious Meat Alternate Program”
- Head of Missouri Jail Sentenced for Beating, Arranging Attacks on Prisoners
- Oregon Discontinues Failed Prisoner Deportation Program
- Prisoners Contribute to Flood Control Efforts in Louisiana
- News in Brief:
More from Marie Gottschalk:
- Tougher Than the Rest: No Criminal Justice Reform “Miracle” in Texas, Jan. 1, 2021
- Incorrigible: The First Step Act and the Carceral State, April 2, 2019
- Kamala Harris’ Disturbing Brand of Criminal Justice Reform, Feb. 20, 2019
- Are We There Yet? The Promise, Perils and Politics of Penal Reform, Jan. 1, 2016
- Days Without End: Life Sentences and Penal Reform, Jan. 15, 2012
- Welcome to Fun Day: Crime and Punishment in the United States, Jan. 15, 2009
- Not the Usual Suspects: The Politics of the Prison Boom, July 15, 2008
More from these topics:
- Prison Policy Initiative Report Finds Significant Health Outcomes from Past Incarceration, Oct. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Collateral consequences of prison, Health care.
- Virginia Report Finds Deaths Increasing as Prison Population Ages, Oct. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, De Facto Life Sentence.
- California Supreme Court Bail Ruling Cuts Some Jail Headcounts, Oct. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, State Legislation, Bail/Pretrial Release, Reduction of Prison Population.
- It’s Gotten Harder for Illinois Prisoners to Get Into College Classes, Oct. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Education.
- Rising Deaths in Los Angeles County Jail Linked to Longer Stays, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Drug Overdose, Statistics/Trends, Suicides, Reduction of Prison Population.
- What 911 Calls Reveal About Jail Operations, Sept. 1, 2026. Systemic Medical Neglect, Statistics/Trends, Failure to Protect (General), Staffing, Staff Training.
- BOP Deputy Director and Former Prisoner Resigns After Just One Year, Sept. 1, 2026. DOC/BOP misconduct, Pardons/Clemency, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Prior Conviction/Sentence/Incarceration.
- California Grand Jury Report on Deaths at Riverside County Jails, Sept. 1, 2026. Jail Misconduct, Corrections Audits, Prison Reform, Statistics/Trends, Public Records.
- Court-Ordered Report on Jail Voting in Massachusetts Finds Low-Rate, Sept. 1, 2026. Elections, Advocacy, Statistics/Trends, Public Records, Voting Rights.
- Michigan DOC Legal Payouts Top $7 Million in FY 2025, Less than One Percent of $2.15 Billion Operating Budget, Sept. 1, 2026. Statistics/Trends, Cost of Prison Systems, Damages, Settlements.

