Is life without parole the perfect compromise to the death penalty? Or
is it as ethically fraught as capital punishment? This comprehensive,
interdisciplinary anthology treats life without parole as "the new death
penalty." Editors Charles J. Ogletree, Jr. and Austin Sarat bring
together original work by prominent scholars in an effort to better
understand the growth of life without parole and its social, cultural,
political, and legal meanings. What justifies the turn to life
imprisonment? How should we understand the fact that this penalty is
used disproportionately against racial minorities? What are the most
promising avenues for limiting, reforming, or eliminating life without
parole sentences in the United States? Contributors explore the
structure of life without parole sentences and the impact they have on
prisoners, where the penalty fits in modern theories of punishment, and
prospects for (as well as challenges to) reform.