Word: lifer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Prison last summer, Plummer Shearin of the Circuit Court for Montgomery County, Md., came away shaken by the experience. But he saw a way to help at least one of the real prisoners. During seminars with "con-sultants," he had met and been impressed by Thomas Eisentrager, 48, a lifer. Checking further, Shearin found that Eisentrager was also highly regarded by both prison officials and fellow convicts for his thoughtful views on penology and probation, his reliability in prison jobs and his efforts at self-rehabilitation. Trouble was, he had been sent to prison for the murder of his girl...
...board. Though it had unanimously turned down the convict's parole bid once before, the board this time voted 4 to 2 for his release. One of the dissenters, Justice John Mowbray, who had sentenced Eisentrager originally, asked, "Why is this man being treated any differently than any lifer? Others in his same position think that release is a matter of chance meeting." But the majority was apparently persuaded that the convicted murderer's rehabilitative effort-not chance alone-was the key element...
...trial for the murder of a white sergeant. For some time Clayborne had felt "hassled" by whites in general. Last September he grabbed his M16, put it on automatic and gunned down the sergeant and two other soldiers in three quick bursts. As he fired, he repeatedly screamed "Lifer!"-a derisive term for a career soldier...
...SECRET LIFER. The other 90% of the nation's committed inverts are hidden from all but their friends, lovers, and occasionally, psychiatrists. Their wrists are rigid, their "s's" well formed; they prefer subdued clothes and close-cropped hair, and these days may dress more conservatively than flamboyant straights. Many wear wedding rings and have wives, children and employers who never know. They range across all classes, all races, all occupations. To lead their double lives these full or part-time homosexuals must "pass" as straight, and most are extremely skilled at camouflage. They can cynically tell...
...misfits to crime-free lives. In progressive prisons, to be sure, guards are taught to break up the inmate culture by friendly communication; inmates are classified in graded groups, promoted for good conduct and hustled toward pa role. Indeed, the average stay today is 21 months; the average lifer exits in 20 years...