Life term is for life

The Supreme Court has finally settled the controversy over the meaning of 'imprisonment for life' to insist that it does, literally, mean imprisonment for the rest of the convict's life, unless the state grants a repreive at an earlier date. Therefore, there is no automatic right to be released after spending 14 years in prison. This might have interesting implications the death penalty debate where the advocates of retaining the penalty often argue that there is no alternative punishment which is deterrent enough, since life imprisonment has come to mean imprisonment for 14 years only.