Yes, I was referring to 3 strikes sentences. In Nevada, for example, 1 in 6 prisoners - over 2,500 people - are serving life sentences. A significant portion of these are sentenced under a wild "habitual offender" statute that enables life sentences for even non-violent repeat offenders. The Nevada version of the three strikes law makes its more famous cousin in California look tame and completely rational by comparison.
And there is also stuff like this, which was not a habitual case... http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d0_1272286354 . That video is a pretty chilling look at how quickly and non-chalantly courts in the US are willing to take away a person's life for relatively minor offenses. Call me crazy, but I don't think that the statement "She is getting a greater penalty for having a boy touch her breast than if she killed him" should ever have to be uttered by an attorney in a court in the "land of the free".
And there is also stuff like this, which was not a habitual case... http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=7d0_1272286354 . That video is a pretty chilling look at how quickly and non-chalantly courts in the US are willing to take away a person's life for relatively minor offenses. Call me crazy, but I don't think that the statement "She is getting a greater penalty for having a boy touch her breast than if she killed him" should ever have to be uttered by an attorney in a court in the "land of the free".