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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Parole. People who are in prison for life can get parole after after a certain amount of time. Usually it’s 20 years.
People who are in prison for life + 40 can’t get parole after 20 years. They have to serve a portion the extra time, usually 1/3rd of it. So Life+42 would mean they’d be able to get parole in 34 years
i’ve heard of those weird cases where the inmates die for like 5 mins and come back to life. What happens in that case? is the life sentence dropped since he died once?
Some states have life without the possibility of parole. But even in those states it makes sense to tack on the extra time if applicable in case the life sentence is reversed on appeal or as the result of PCR.
I heard of a guy who pirated got like 500 years, i dont really get why or a pirating crime gets THAT much time
When I was a kid, I thought “Life plus x years” meant they kept your body in a cell until the x years were up before they let you be buried. 😂 I thought they wanted to make good and sure people served their full sentence.
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.
Generally, a life sentence (25-40 years) can end early with good behavior or you are paroled. The additional time is to make sure you stay in prison even if you are let out of your “life” sentence for good behavior, parole, etc.
It convers contingencies, regarding parole, early release, etc. So i case the laws change and want to let you out, they cant. You can get parole, but not for an even longer time. If they say a life sentence ends getting you out at 25 years, he gets 47 more years, and he only has to do say 23 of them, then he still has to do at least 48 years total, which means he will probably die in prison. It also covers things like change in policy for a certain crime like drugs. you would still have to do the rest if your sentence s was commuted for some reason. So whoever you saw on TV was a very bad boy.
You get a different amount of time for each crime. If you get your conviction overturned for some, you still serve the time for the others that aren’t overturned.
So, say you get life + 3 years… You appeal, and get the life sentence dropped. You still have 3 years.
I used to have the same question, I think it depends on location but apparently life is actually 20 or 25 years, give or take.
For the most part, life in prison doesn’t mean you’re gonna die there. It’s confusing terminology that should be updated.
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