skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, February 6, 2025

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Judge pauses deadline for federal workers to accept Trump's resignation offer; CA state lawmakers take action to enact safeguards against federal immigration enforcement; Study shows air quality disparities from industrial ag in NC.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Attorney General Pam Bondi strikes a Trump tone at the Justice Department, federal workers get more time to consider buyouts, and an unclassified email request from the White House worries CIA vets.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

During Black History Month, a new book shares how a unique partnership built 5,000 schools for Black students, anti-hunger advocates say ag communities would benefit from an expanded SNAP program, and Americans have $90 billion in unpaid medical bills.

Kentucky sees increase in life without parole sentences

play audio
Play

Wednesday, January 22, 2025   

Kentucky has seen one of the largest percent increases in its incarcerated population serving life without parole sentences.

According to a new report by The Sentencing Project, nearly half of all states had more people serving a life sentence in 2024 than in 2020.

Ashley Nellis, justice, law and criminology lecturer in the School of Public Affairs at American University and author of the report, said the Commonwealth has a disproportionately higher than average number of people in its prison system who will be incarcerated until they die, compared to the amount of crimes committed.

"Life without the possibility of parole has increased from 30 people to 153 people in a relatively short period of time, which is troubling," Nellis reported.

In 2024, almost 200,000 people, or one in six people in prison, were serving life sentences, and more than 97,000 are serving life without parole sentences.

Racial disparities in life imprisonment are higher among those who were under 25 at the time of their offense compared to those who were 25 and older. Nellis explains a number of different factors are driving the increase, including the fact that there are now more crimes eligible for life without parole.

"In the past, it might have been required for first degree but now it's required for second degree (murder)," Nellis pointed out. "Also, it may be required for certain victim types if there's a homicide."

Nellis noted advocates are calling for reforms that cap imprisonment at 20 years for crimes committed by adults, except for unusual circumstances, and at 15 years for youth. She believes the changes would stem mass incarceration.

"So that we no longer think about things in terms of the minimum term of years that somebody has to serve, but the maximum term of years that we can expect them to serve," Nellis urged.

Almost half of the people serving life without parole sentences are at least 50 years old and one in four is at least 60 years old.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service, Mississippi has the highest rates of food insecurity in the nation. (Katerina Holmes/Pexels)

Social Issues

play sound

Mississippi families struggling with food insecurity are bracing for another difficult summer after state officials declined millions in federal fundi…


Environment

play sound

Some experts predict arable land per person will shrink by two-thirds by 2050. To combat it, Michigan students are being trained in "smart" …

Environment

play sound

A new study by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality found nitrate levels have continued to rise across the Lower Umatilla Basin Groundwater …


Currently, insurance companies get to decide how much of a public ambulance service's rate to pay, which can lead to patients being charged the unpaid balance. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado lawmakers are working to ensure all Coloradans with health coverage for ambulance services are not hit with surprise bills or charged higher …

Environment

play sound

Conservation groups in Maine are calling on the state's congressional delegation to protect federal funding for clean energy technologies. A new …

Osprey, bluefish, red drum and cobia rely on menhaden populations for food. (Adobe Stock)

play sound

Atlantic menhaden weigh less than a pound and measure little more than a foot long but the small fish has big consequences for the Chesapeake Bay ecos…

Social Issues

play sound

Gov. Kay Ivey delivered her 2025 State of the State address this week, focusing on education, public safety, and economic growth in Alabama. She …

Social Issues

play sound

In rural states such as South and North Dakota and large urban centers around the U.S., protests were held Wednesday amid fears about the first wave …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021