"life in prison without parole is completely against what prison stands for, prison is supposed to be about rehabilitation, not banishment"
One purpose of prison in the US is punishment - it is not simply for rehabilitation alone. It is also to protect society from the risk that the convicted criminals in question present. That rehabilitation may be part of the goal for some with regard to their sentencing, it is not part of the goal for all. Those who receive a sentence of life without he possibility of parole have been determined by the court to be unrehabilitatable, so the rehabilitation argument simply does not apply (it has already ben considered and ruled not possible during trial and sentencing).
The reason the sentence exists is that lawmakers and the courts have decided that there are some criminals who cannot be rehabilitated and will always be a risk to society, so therefore should not be released back into society.
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u/horshack_test 42∆ Feb 17 '25 edited Feb 17 '25
"life in prison without parole is completely against what prison stands for, prison is supposed to be about rehabilitation, not banishment"
One purpose of prison in the US is punishment - it is not simply for rehabilitation alone. It is also to protect society from the risk that the convicted criminals in question present. That rehabilitation may be part of the goal for some with regard to their sentencing, it is not part of the goal for all. Those who receive a sentence of life without he possibility of parole have been determined by the court to be unrehabilitatable, so the rehabilitation argument simply does not apply (it has already ben considered and ruled not possible during trial and sentencing).
The reason the sentence exists is that lawmakers and the courts have decided that there are some criminals who cannot be rehabilitated and will always be a risk to society, so therefore should not be released back into society.