WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Sentencing Project this month released “A Matter of Life: The Scope and Impact of Life and Long-Term Imprisonment in the United States,” revealing “alarming data” on long-term imprisonment.
“The United States’ heavy investment in extreme punishments, such as life imprisonment, is ineffective crime prevention,” said Kara Gotsch, executive director of The Sentencing Project.
Gotsch added, “Communities will not be safer unless we build stronger public health, education, and services for vulnerable people. The release of elderly and rehabilitated people from prison will not impact crime rates, but will reserve public dollars for more effective safety solutions.”
The report’s overview further defines “long-term imprisonment” as “life sentences, which includes life with the possibility of parole; life without the possibility of parole; and virtual life sentences (sentences reaching 50 years or longer).”
The Sentencing Project is a non-profit organization that advocates for “effective and humane” responses to crime, focusing research on mass incarceration, racial disparities in the criminal justice system, and policies related to sentencing and prison reform.
The report overview highlights the counterproductive nature of the American carceral status quo as its “dependence on life sentences disregards research showing that extreme sentences are not an effective public safety solution.”
The comprehensive 50-state “lifer census” 2025 report, by using data from 2024, explores the prevalence, implications and impact of life sentences and how it affects communities of color on top of disregarding general community safety.
According to its national key findings, “the U.S. represents 40 percent of the world’s life-sentenced population, despite comprising only four percent of the global population” and “one in six individuals in prison (16 percent) – nearly 200,000 people – is serving a life sentence.”
“Nearly half of individuals serving life sentences and more than half of those sentenced to life without parole are Black,” the data confirmed.
The report noted “one in 11 women in prison is serving a life sentence,” and people aged 55 and older are accounting for “nearly two-fifths of people serving life sentences.”
Statistics in the data found “almost 70,000 individuals serving life” had committed their offenses “before the age of 25.”
Key findings paint the bigger picture, noting “more people were serving life without parole in 2024 than ever,” citing “56,245 people, a 68 percent increase since 2003.”
Celeste Barry, program associate at The Sentencing Project and co-author of the report, stated this report “is a temperature check on our criminal legal system and it tells us that policymakers must champion more substantial reforms to achieve fairness and efficacy.”
As such, the “Matter of Life” report listed concise recommendations to pave way for future policies.
Recommendations from the report include: abolish life without parole (LWOP) sentences; cap imprisonment at 20 years for adults and 15 years for youth; extend juvenile sentencing protections to emerging adults; implement an automatic sentence review process (second-look mechanism); reform the parole systems; and end stacked sentences.
These next steps advocated by The Sentencing Project argue for rehabilitation, acknowledgement of cognitive development in youth, increased transparency and expertise among board members, and a reduced burden on the overcrowded prison system.
“The retributive principle of ‘an eye for an eye’ often serves as the rationale for supporting life and long prison sentences, but upon closer examination, this logic falters,” the report explained, citing the reason that punishments become “grossly disproportionate” to the committed crimes.
“Rehabilitation has often been unfairly stigmatized, but when implemented effectively, it produces meaningful results,” highlighting why life sentences often fail, the report states.
“Extreme sentences neither promote community safety nor do they acknowledge the potential for change that so many people undergo, especially as they age,” Barry said. “It is time to adopt policies that prioritize justice, second chances, and more effective approaches to preventing crime.”
