imprisonment

Punishments for serious offenses include imprisonment and the death penalty. About 70 different offenses are punishable by death, though the vast majority of death sentences are imposed for common crimes such as murder, rape, robbery, assault (see assault and battery), and theft. Since the 1990s there have been an increasing…

Incarceration of the suspect before trial most seriously impairs the preparation of an effective defense. Nevertheless, all legal systems permit pretrial detention, though under differing conditions.

Although the total number of incarcerations in the U.S. has declined in recent years—dropping 21% from a peak of 2.3 million imprisoned people in 2008—the country still leads the world in mass imprisonment. According to the Prison Policy Initiative study of 2024, the country’s multitiered system of incarceration “held some…

…been almost entirely replaced by imprisonment or other nonviolent penalties.

…execution or lengthy periods of incarceration. Most instances of incapacitation involve offenders who have committed repeated crimes (multiple recidivists) under what are known as habitual offender statutes, which permit longer-than-normal sentences for a given offense. Incapacitation is also utilized, for example, in cases involving offenders who are deemed dangerous (such…