ABSTRACT
T he rap id abolition o f the dea th penalty th ro u g h o u t m uch o f the w estern w orld du ring the la tter half o f the tw entieth cen tury was undoub ted ly ‘one o f the signal achievem ents o f liberal idealism ’ (van Zyl Smit 2001: 299). However, as the Israeli crim inologist Leon Sheleff (1987) has recognized, few abolitionists have con fron ted themselves with the total im plications o f life im prisonm ent as an alternative pun ish m en t to the dea th p en alty. Rather, dea th penalty supporters an d opponen ts alike have often assum ed tha t the alternative to execution should be to p u t m urderers b eh in d bars for the rest o f the ir lives. In recen t decades in the U nited States, there has been a rap id pro liferation o f life im prisonm ent w ithout paro le sentences for bo th adult and juvenile offenders, and also m andatory life sentences for recidivists and for d rug offences. R ecent trends in the U nited K ingdom appear equally unprom ising. A lthough E ngland an d Wales has long since ceased the execution o f offenders, it has surpassed all o f W estern E urope in its use o f life im prisonm ent (C reighton 2004). M oreover, the recently enacted Crim inal Justice Act 2003 has ex tended the scope o f life im prisonm ent to include whole-life im prison m en t as the m axim um penalty. T he resu ltan t p ic ture is o f life im prisonm ent im posed m ore often an d en fo rced for longer periods.
