11/10   So the Oregon teen who shot his parents and two classmates got
        111 years in prison without parole. He could have gotten 220 years.
        What's the point of that many years? Isn't this basically a life
        sentence?
        \_ No -- those canny lawyers are banking on the incredible life-
           extension technologies that'll be available (along with flying
           cars and comfortable homes constructed entirely from plastic)
           in the glorious future to come!  You need to read more _Popular
           Science_!  Even teenagers incarcerated for mind-bogglingly long
           terms can look forward to a day when they can kill again!
        \_ I think this is to ensure that he really spends the rest of his
           life in jail.  If he pretends to behave well in jail and gets his
           sentense reduced, a left sentence will be reduced to 20 or 30 years
           which means he may get out one day, whereas a 220 years sentense
           will be reduced to maybe 100 or 150 years.
        \_ In addition to the above, the sentence is the sum of his crimes.
           If one of the murders later gets over turned or reduced, he's still
           fucked forever.  A long sentence likes this makes it pointless to
           try to play the legal system to squeeze a few years out.  He's gone.