I can think of no authors more qualified to research the complex
impact of life sentences than Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis. They have
the expertise to track down the information that all citizens need to
know and the skills to translate that research into accessible and
powerful prose.
--Heather Ann Thompson, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Blood in
the Water
From the author of the classic Race to Incarcerate, a forceful and
necessary argument for eliminating life sentences, including profiles of
six people directly impacted by life sentences by formerly incarcerated
author Kerry Myers
Most Western democracies have few or no people serving life sentences,
yet here in the United States more than 200,000 people are sentenced to
such prison terms.
Marc Mauer and Ashley Nellis of The Sentencing Project argue that there
is no practical or moral justification for a sentence longer than twenty
years. Harsher sentences have been shown to have little effect on crime
rates, since people age out of crime--meaning that we're spending a
fortune on geriatric care for older prisoners who pose little threat to
public safety. Extreme punishment for serious crime also has an
inflationary effect on sentences across the spectrum, helping to account
for severe mandatory minimums and other harsh punishments.
A thoughtful and stirring call to action, The Meaning of Life also
features moving profiles of a half dozen people affected by life
sentences, written by former lifer and award-winning writer Kerry Myers.
The book will tie in to a campaign spearheaded by The Sentencing Project
and offers a much-needed road map to a more humane criminal justice
system.
