Why do judges hand out ridiculous prison sentences?

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asked Aug 31, 2016 in Law Enforcement/Police by Tansinator (1,920 points)

Why do Judges hand out ridiculous prison sentences?
 

What I mean is take James Holmes for example. They handed him down a sentence that he could never possibly finish serving?

James Holmes was sentenced too

12 life sentences in prison without the possibility of parole, and an additional 3,318 years.

Why not just say life without parole? 

No one has 12 lives, and certainly not 3,318 years and even if I could live that long for 3,318 years I'd commit suicide living in prison that long. 

It makes the judge look stupid to give out a sentence like that. 
 

1 Answer

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answered Aug 31, 2016 by Bdog2 (3,910 points)
From what I've heard it's a requirement for the judge to sentence the prisoner for each crime they committed so if you committed 12 murders you'd get sentenced for those 12 murders.

I agree with you. A simple life sentence would be sufficient though.

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