I just heard on the TV that someone got life in prison plus 47 years. I never understood this. Life in prison is life in prison so what does this mean when they get additional time on top of life in prison?
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I didn’t read every answer or comment, so I apologize if this has been stated.
But one point I want to make is that there is a misunderstanding about what life means. As you say in the question is that life does not mean life. It essentially means “potentially life.” In a way, it’s symbolic.
Excluding other factors, other crimes, or things that come up later on with new evidence, let’s just start with the standard murder in the first degree.
A life sentence means life without a chance of a parole for 25 years. This varies from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, but the country I’m more familiar with the laws this is the typical sentence for the person who murdered someone deliberately.
This means they will go to jail and stay there for at least 25 years, before they can apply for parole. This does not mean they will get parole, and they will remain in jail until that time. This is also not referencing possible day paroles or work release programs which would let them leave prison for typically a day, and under strict rules, or under guard protection (society protection more than inmate mind you).
In murder in the second degree, it’s typically life, without the chance of parole for 10 years. In both instances, parole is applied for. The parole officer has to put them into programs and work on rehabilitation, and recommend them for whatever they’re applying for (work release, day pass, weekend pass, or full release.
The reason I say it’s symbolic is that in some cases, they give life with no chance of parole. That’s the real life sentence you’re thinking about. But they can give consecutive life sentences if it’s a multiple killing. These are given out to ensure a convicted felon does not get a chance for parole, ideally for their whole life. The typical sentence has a chance to apply after a set amount of years, but consecutive sentences can ensure that they don’t get that chance.
Sometimes sentences extend far beyond their possible years they have left. That’s the symbolic part. I believe they changed that in Canada to say those multiple life sentences were unconstitutional (even though I don’t believe Canada has a constitution per se).
Lastly, life plus x number of years is explained well in other answers. Essentially it’s that life sentence plus extra years for other crimes. If the killer tried to kill a family, but only killed one and the rest of them lived, they could be sentenced to life/25 for the murder, and then attempted murder of the rest.
Basically, what I wanted to clarify for you is that life doesn’t mean life. It’s a word to describe the basic thought behind the sentence, and then details are added to specify what “life” meant in that case.
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