Prisoners sentenced to life terms with the possibility of parole are less likely to re-offend and return to prison than prisoners released after serving a fixed period of time, according to a new report.
Ninety-five percent of lifers had no new convictions over the three-year control period, according to Lifer Parolee Recidivism Report.
The report analyzed 112, 673 parolees released during 2006- 07 and tracked them for three years.
Characteristics such as race, age, and offense category were considered in the report. It found the recidivism rate for offenders released after serving life terms was 13.3 percent. The recidivism rate included offenders who violated conditions of their parole.
However, when excluding offenders who violated conditions of parole, lifer recidivism was 4.8 percent as compared to 51.5 percent for the non-lifer population. The recidivism rate for the non-lifer population, including conditions of their parole, was 65.1 percent.
The report showed a quarter of parolees who served indeterminate terms were 55 or older. No one in the lifer group was under 30. Conversely, 35 percent of the non-lifer group was under 30 and 2.5 percent were 55 or older.