Five U.S. Prisoners Spent More Than 65 Years Behind Bars
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Aug 22
Five U.S. Prisoners Spent More Than 65 Years Behind Bars
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Aug 22
Summary
Francis Clifford Smith, who died at 101 on June 25, spent 70 years in prison, placing him among the longest-incarcerated people in U.S. history.
The New York Times profile highlights five such cases, including William Heirens, who died in 2012 after 65 years and 181 days in custody for three 1946 Chicago murders he later said he falsely confessed to.
Sammie Robinson served 66 years and 85 days at Louisiana's Angola prison after a 1953 attempted rape conviction turned into a life term when he killed another inmate in 1954; the original rape conviction was later overturned.
The cases show how murder convictions, prison violence and life sentences kept some inmates incarcerated for longer than Robert Stroud, the 'Birdman of Alcatraz,' who spent 54 years behind bars.
Does locking up a potentially innocent man for 70 years until his death at 101 serve justice, or merely institutionalize vengeance?
With inmates increasingly aging behind bars, who truly bears the staggering moral and financial costs of turning prisons into geriatric nursing facilities?