When they sentence someone 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

depending on the state statutes of the state the crime was prosecuted in, there are various reasons for passing sentences like this.  The only reason that I could find and somewhat confirm  is a bit strange.

When someone is given 2 or more life sentences that are consecutive (one after the other), it prevents an inmate from arguing t hat he died of a heart attack or other kind of death, he should be allowed to leave prison since the sentence had been served.  The same reason is used when a sentence of life +50 years (an arbitrary number i threw in for information clarity).  If the inmate 'dies', then he still has 50 more years to serve before release.  

Hope that cleared this up a bit for you

Answer 2

check this out ...when i was 16 i got a life sentence and did 18.5 years and got out on parole ..my brother got handed 100 years and got out on parole in 15 years just because they say a high number doesnt mean you will do all of the amount but if a judge tells you life with out parole that means you will die in prison or even if a judge tells you natural life you will die in prison and also if he tells you 100 years plus a day the same than happens but it all depends on how the judge says it ..... its all screwed up if you ask me  

Answer 3

They sentence people to really long terms (100+ years) so that even if they live a long time and happen to make it to their 100th birthday they still receive the life sentence. They also give long term sentences so that the person who committed the crime never gets the chance to come up for parole.

I agree that its weird, but there really is a point to it and it works.