Life imprisonment vs the death penalty

The NYT has an interesting feature about how death row inmates get attention from pro bono lawyers, but inmates serving life sentences don't.  I'd guess it's one of those things that's nearly impossible to imagine without being in the situation.  It may suggest that the common tactic of throwing all resources in capital cases at avoiding the death penalty may shortchange some defendants.  (Unabomber Ted Kaczynski comes to mind; he may have preferred the gamble of a trial with the likely outcomes of freedom or death to the certainty of a life sentence.)

Comments

I haven't read the article, but I recall a segment on "This American Life" where a defendant was being sentenced (though convicted, he didn't commit the crime). The jury had to decide between the death penalty or life imprisonment. At the sentencing proceedings, the defendant recalled all the terrible things he had done in his life in an attempt to sway the jury to give him the death penalty - which they did.

He knew that he didn't do the crime, but also knew that the only way that he could hope to get competent counsel on appeal was if he was a death row inmate. He figured it was worth the gamble - even if he was unsuccessful he'd rather be executed than spend life in jail. Everything worked like he'd hoped, and today he's a free man.

RD

[g]

I recall Justice Scalia saying something about preferring the death penalty versus life imprisonment for that exact reason.