"...nobody does a better job than Nolo." - USA Today
Nolo Logo

Since 1971, Nolo's goal has been simple: Make America's legal system accessible to everyone. Our website, books, software, online legal forms and lawyer directory help millions of individuals, businesses and nonprofits solve their legal problems each year.

Small text sizeMedium text sizeLarge text size Print this page
 

Nolo’s Plain-English Law Dictionary

Legal Dictionary Home

back-to-back life sentences
Slang for consecutive life terms imposed by a judge when the defendant was convicted of more than one crime, each of which carries a life sentence. Making the sentences consecutive and not concurrent (served at the same time) lessens the chance of parole: Unless specified "without possibility of parole," a life sentence really means 20 or more years in prison before parole is possible. A convict serving concurrent life sentences could conceivably receive parole on all of them after serving the minimum term, but someone with consecutive sentences would have to begin serving the second sentence upon being paroled for the first.
Dictionary

Search the whole dictionary:

Bestsellers

Browse all books, software & legal forms >

Find A Lawyer

Enter zip or city, state ("Boston, MA")

Attorney Profiles

Attorneys: Get Listed

Advertisement

Advertise Here

Nolo Partner

This service is operated by JustAnswer.
Nolo provides no guarantee of the information provided.