What does life sentence mean?
A life sentence means a judge can jail you for a minimum amount of years up to the maximum for the crime that you have committed taking into consideration your age at the time, the circumstances of the offence and background reports. Life means for example if a judge gives 12 yrs it dosent mean that you will be released in 12 yrs but is the earliest time you can make an application for parole. A board looks at the crime committed, whether you are still a danger to the public and yr prison records for behaviour etc. Then if you are released you are on parole and can at any time be returned to prison if you break the conditions of your parole licence. In the case of lifers they are monitored by police and probation services FOR LIFE.
In the UK a judge will sentence “life” with a recommended minimum tariff. Normally you would not expect to be released before that time even if you are a “model prisoner”. The term life imprisonment has been so watered down that it is time another phrase was introduced or as most people will probably say “life should mean life”.
Life does always mean for the rest of your natural life it depends on circumstances of the crime and the severity of it, there are many factors which determine the sentence. The average sentence is about ””15 years”’ before the first parole hearing,although those convicted of exceptionally grave crimes remain behind bars for considerably longer. The Criminal Justice Act of 2003 set out guidelines for how long murderers should spend in prison before being considered for parole. whole life tariffs, are issued by either the High Court or the Home Office. Ian Huntley was given a tariff of 40 years. Some receive whole life tariffs and die in prison, such as Myra Hindley and Harold Shipman. Other whole life tariff’s include Ian Brady, Donald Neilson, Dennis Nilsen and Robert Black.
