A mandatory life sentence in prison is when a person is to remain in prison for the rest of their lives.
That means that if the mandatory life sentence was a life sentence without parole then the person will stay in prison from the day the person arrives at prison until the day the person dies in prison.
A life sentence without parole means you have no chance of ever living prison until you die and are carried out in a body bag or coffin.
However some life sentences have the possibility of parole after around 25 years.
If the person was sentenced to a mandatory life in prison sentence with the possibility of parole then the person would have to stay in prison for at least 25 years before they come up for parole.
Then a parole board will decide on whether to parole you and release you from prison or they may decide to deny parole and keep you in prison.
Life in prison even with possibility of parole can still mean you stay in prison for the rest of your life.
Although with life with parole you at least have a chance of maybe getting out of prison but with a life without parole you will never leave prison.
Life imprisonment is any sentence of imprisonment for a crime under which convicted people are to remain in prison for the rest of their natural lives or indefinitely until pardoned, paroled, or otherwise commuted to a fixed term.
In the United States, people serving a life sentence with parole are eligible for parole after 25 years.
If they are serving two consecutive life sentences, it means they have to wait at least 50 years to be considered for parole.
In some jurisdictions, a "life" sentence is a misnomer in that it can come with the possibility of parole.
Depending on the state's law, a defendant may be eligible for parole after a set number of years, like 20, 25, or 40.
A defendant who has served the minimum sentence can apply to a parole board for release.
Any prisoner's sentence can be commuted by the governor, but that's true regardless of how long it is.
The extra 400 years doesn't limit the governor's power.
If these impossibly long sentences make any sense, it's because they make clear that a defendant has been given a separate sentence for each of his crimes.
Many U.S. states can release a convict on parole after a decade or more has passed, but in California, people sentenced to life imprisonment can normally apply for parole after seven years.
A sentence of “natural life” means that there are no parole hearings, no credit for time served, no possibility of release.
Short of a successful appeal or an executive pardon, such a sentence means that the convicted will, in no uncertain terms, die behind bars.