Since 2005, jurors in capital cases in Texas have been given the option of imposing a sentence of life without the possibility of parole (known as LWOP), which appears to be viewed by many jurors as a satisfactory alternative.
The watch commander had this idea that, since he was a level-four LWOP and validated gang member with such an unusually high I.Q., he was definitely a shot caller.
Reviewing LWOP sentences is part of that job.
Professors Zimring and Johnson argued that the death penalty masked the severity of LWOP sentences.
For the most part, the LWOP penalty was a new subcategory of life terms.
I quoted a Human Rights Watch report that placed the number of "children" sentenced to LWOP at 2,574.
Further, in states that offered punishment options of death or LWOP, there wasn't a decline in death penalty cases, just a massive increase in the number of prisoners serving sentence of LWOP.
The authors then pointed to "The Problematics of Life Without Parole (LWOP)" as an example of expanded punishments.
Many citizens misconstrued LWOP as an act of mercy, failing to recognize the enormous pain and public expense that accompanied LWOP sentences, many of which were imposed for nonviolent crimes by consenting adults.
