The meaning of life: the case for abolishing life sentences

Introduction: lessons of "the birdman"

Life by the numbers / Denise Dodson

Policies that drive life sentences / Kelly Garrett and Justin Singleton

Doing life

"Death is different" / Sam Lewis

The american commitment to punishment

The meaning of life around the world / William Underwood

The racial meaning of life

The meaning of life for criminal justice reform / Anita Colon and Robert Holbrook

The meaning of life for public safety

Enacting a twenty-year maximum sentence / Willis X. Harris

The future of life in america

Author's note

Acknowledgments

Notes.