Why End Life Without Parlole (LWOP)

Life without parole affects thousands of people in Massachusetts. It is not what most survivors of crime want. It is unjust. It is slow death row.

According to a 2025 report from The Sentencing Project, “more people were serving life without parole (LWOP) in 2024 than ever before: 56,245 people were serving this “death by incarceration” sentence, a 68% increase since 2003.”

Life Without Parole (LWOP) Affects Thousands of People in Massachusetts

“The United States makes up roughly 4% of the world population but holds an estimated 40% of the world’s life-sentenced population, including 83% of persons serving LWOP,” Nellis, A. and Barry, C. (2025). A Matter of Life: The Scope and Impact of Life and Long Term Imprisonment in the United States.  The Sentencing Project.)

Between 2014 and 2024, the percentage of the Massachusetts male prison population serving LWOP increased from 11% to 19%.  At the same time, the female prison population serving LWOP increased from 5% to 15%.  (Massachusetts Department of Correction Prison Population Trends Reports for Calendar Year 2013 and Calendar Year 2023.)

LWOP is Slow Death Row

Four our of 10 prisoners serving LWOP in Massachusetts are 55 or older, according to a 2025 report of The Sentencing Project.


LWOP Is Not What Most Survivors of Crime Want

According to a 2016 report by Alliance for Safety and Justice, Crime Survivors Speak: The First-ever National Survey of Victims’ Views on Safety and Justice:

– By a 2 to 1 margin, victims prefer that the criminal justice system focus on rehabilitation
– By a margin of 15 to 1, victims prefer increased investments in schools and education over prisons and jails
– By a margin of 10 to 1, victims prefer increased investments in job creation over prisons and jails
– By a margin of 7 to 1, victims prefer increased investments in mental health treatment over prisons and jails
– By a margin of 7 to 1, victims prefer increased investments in crime prevention over prisons and jails
– 6 in 10 victims prefer shorter prison sentences and more spending on prevention and rehabilitation
– By a margin of nearly 3 to 1, victims believe that prison makes people more likely to commit crimes than rehabilitate them

LWOP Is Unjust

“Nearly half of people serving life sentences are Black, and racial disparities are the greatest with respect to people sentenced to life without parole.” (Nellis, A. and Barry, C., A Matter of Life: The Scope and Impact of Life and Long Term Imprisonment in the United States, The Sentencing Project, 2025)

“Being Black and young has produced a substantially larger share of LWOP sentences than being Black alone.” “Two thirds (66%) of people under 26 years old sentenced to LWOP are Black compared with 51% of persons sentenced to LWOP beyond this age.” (Nellis, A. and Monazzam, N., Left to Die in Prison:  Emerging Adults 25 and Younger Sentenced to Life without Parole, The Sentencing Project, 2023.)

Further Reading