132,000 people in prison for life in the U.S.

Professor Berman links here to this NY Times article about the population of persons sentenced to life in U.S. prisons.

The article says there are 132,000 lifers in the U.S., and explains:

"But now, driven by tougher laws and political pressure on governors and parole boards, thousands of lifers are going into prisons each year, and in many states only a few are ever coming out, even in cases where judges and prosecutors did not intend to put them away forever.

Indeed, in just the last 30 years, the United States has created something never before seen in its history and unheard of around the globe: a booming population of prisoners whose only way out of prison is likely to be inside a coffin."