[Illbay]

Inmates will carry out the sentence before the state will.

I hear that frequently, but I'm not sure that I've ever seen any statistics on this. True, you had Dahmer's case, but his was very high-profile, and any nut wanting his 15 minutes' of fame might've snuffed him.

How about all the other not-so-famous child molestation and murder cases?

Do those people REALLY have a low life expectancy in prison? Or is this just really an "urban legend" that no one ever questions?

[marajade]

" ... but I'm not sure that I've ever seen any statistics on this."

It happens... But often times they don't go to court... the prison itself deals with it in their own disciplinary actions

[Melas]

Damner was given fifteen consecutive life terms or a total of 957 years in prison. Big differnce. Death row is another animal. With slight state to state variations, death row inmates spend 23 hours a day in a cell, alone, and are never in a position to make physical contact with other inmates. Voice contact is as close as they get.