Comparing life without parole to the death penalty
In the contemporary United States, the death penalty and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP) share the quality of being ultimate penalties: by jurisdiction, one or the other serves as the most severe punishment the state is authorized to mete out. In recent years, as one juris...
| Main Author: | |
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| Format: | Print Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2024
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| In: |
The Elgar companion to capital punishment and society
Year: 2024, Pages: 218-231 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (lizenzpflichtig) |
| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
| Keywords: |
| Summary: | In the contemporary United States, the death penalty and life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (LWOP) share the quality of being ultimate penalties: by jurisdiction, one or the other serves as the most severe punishment the state is authorized to mete out. In recent years, as one jurisdiction after another has abolished the death penalty, LWOP has entered as the replacement. The parallel roles these punishments play-and their stance as alternatives-position LWOP and the death penalty as prime points for comparison. Indeed, LWOP is often referred to as an “other death penalty,” a phrase connoting both similarity and difference. Surveying literature from the legal and sociolegal fields, this chapter compares LWOP to the death penalty on three levels: the nature and severity of the punishment; the punishments’ social functions and effects; and how these punishments relate to and are situated among other penal laws and practices. The chapter closes by identifying further areas for comparison and ways in which research on LWOP might take inspiration from the robust literature amassed on the modern death penalty over the past 50 years. |
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| Item Description: | Literaturverzeichnis: Seite 228-231 |
| ISBN: | 9781803929149 |
| DOI: | 10.4337/9781803929156.00023 |
