New report finds record high life sentences for inmates while crime reaches record lows

January 15th, 2025

An interior view of a cell unit at the Fulton County Jail. (LaShawn Hudson/ WABE)

A new report from The Sentencing Project finds one in six people incarcerated in the U.S. are serving life sentences, a record high even as crime rates reach record lows.

The report, titled “A Matter of Life: The Scope and Impact of Life and Long-term Imprisonment in the United States,” looks at the prevalence and implications of life sentences in all 50 states. It also highlights that Black people make up nearly half the life sentence population in the U.S.

Life sentences are defined as life without parole, life with the possibility of parole and virtual life, which are sentences reaching 50 years or more.

On Tuesday’s edition of “Closer Look,” Celeste Barry, a program associate at The Sentencing Project and an author of the report, shared key findings and policy recommendations, such as abolishing life without parole sentences and reforming parole systems to address “excessive punishment.” She also talked with show host Rose Scott about how Georgia’s statistics compare to the nation and other states.