Life imprisonment in the United States

In the United States, 1 in every 2,000 residents is imprisoned for life. This is similar to the total imprisonment rate in Japan, which is roughly 51 per 100,000 residents. There are many U.S. states where a convict can be released on parole after a decade or more has passed. For example, sentences of "15 years to life" or "25 years to life" may be given; this is called an "indeterminate life sentence", while a sentence of "life without the possibility of parole" is called a "determinate life sentence". Even when a sentence specifically denies the possibility of parole, government officials may have the power to grant amnesty or reprieves, or commute a sentence to time served.

In the 1860s, reformation became favored over penitence in American penology, with the role of prisons seen as reforming prisoners, who were imprisoned until reform was achieved. The concepts of parole and indeterminate sentencing were regarded as forward looking in the 1870s for these reasons. However, these ideals were not as successful as had been hoped—crime was not eradicated, reformatories had the same problems as prisons regarding politicization and underfunding, and indeterminate sentencing became undermined by prisoners, who quickly found that it was possible to "beat the system" by pretense, giving a better chance of winning parole. Many were soon back in custody. Similarly, prison authorities could twist it to their advantage by selectively denying parole. But the biggest cause of the reformatories' failure to live up to expectations was that despite the enthusiasm of reformers, and Brockway's call for an end to vengeance in criminal justice, those within the prison environment—both inmates and guards alike—continued to conceive of prison as a place of retribution.

In 1954, Master Sergeant Maurice L. Schick was convicted by military court-martial of the murder of eight-year-old Susan Rothschild at Camp Zama in Japan. The soldier admitted the killing stating he had a sudden "uncontrollable urge to kill" choosing his victim "just because she was there". Schick was sentenced to death. Six years later, the case was forwarded to President Dwight D. Eisenhower for final review. He exercised his right of executive clemency to commute Schick's death sentence to confinement with hard labor for the term of his natural life with the express condition that he "shall never have any rights, privileges, claims or benefits arising under the parole and suspension or remission of sentence laws of the United States".

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