When I say “Life Imprisonment”, most people think that means literally life imprisonment — that is, imprisonment until death. Life imprisonment is a serious punishment for serious crimes, and it is used in part to prevent criminals from re-entering society and posing a threat to normal citizens.

But if the NC Supreme Court has anything to say about it, that may no longer be the case.

The long story short is that the NC Supreme Court is considering allowing things like “good behavior” credits to factor into the presumed 80 year sentence they believe comprises a “life sentence” — meaning, in layman’s terms, some really well behaved “lifers” might be able to get out with only 30 year sentences. This would make it possible for over 24 people serving a life sentence in North Carolina right now to be freed immediately.

It will be interesting to see how this goes. On one hand, “good behavior” credits and parole are a pretty normal part of the justice system — it’s a good incentive to keep order and to ensure the prisons remain relatively open. Furthermore, I’m sure there is a legal precedent that allows releasing prisoners — the NC Supreme Court is almost certainly not establishing a new precedent. Still, this could easily become a PR nightmare. It’s very hard to have to explain to normal, tax-paying citizens why the state is allowing people who were thrown into jail for life — meaning they committed a heinous crime and were deemed largely dangerous — out onto the street once again.