When someone gets sentenced to jail.....

Question

For an extreme crime, why don't they ever sentence them for a reasonable amount of years? I was watching the news today and it said this guy was facing up to 140 years in prison....

No one barely even lives past 100, so wtf. Does that mean he doesn't get a family burial when he dies or something?

Answer 1

Legislatures set the available penalties for each crime.  if someone got 140 years, it means he committed several crimes and was sentenced for each one.  

Answer 2

For a couple of reasons:  if convicted of multiple crimes, their sentence would be X amount of years for each crime.  Also, another reason to impose the maximum sentence is to ensure they never get out due to 'good time'.  

Hope this helps!  

Answer 3

The can be sentenced to life without parole.  When they get that many years it  means they are eligible to parole out someday if they behave.  But I'm with you, they give them so many years that there's no hope for the future.  Sometimes they only serve a partial of the time or get pardened by the Gov. or Pres.

Answer 4

It means that he will never get parole. He will be in prison for the rest of his life. He will die behind bars.  

Answer 5

There are many laws on the books that will allow a maximum sentence to be combined. For example evading the police and committing armed robbery you can be convicted and charged on both accounts. Now if they are eligible for parole then after a few good years they can apply however if there is no parole then it is simply a life sentence. These are most likely carried out when the judge does not believe the convicted is able to become rehabilitated and wants to be "hard" on them and pass the maximum sentence. When the convicted passes if the family claims the body they can conduct what ever burial they want however if no one claims him it is up to the city to bare these expenses