And it's a bit alarming if life routinely means about five years. I mean, why call it "life" then?
As you say, expecting life to mean life puts you immediately on the right wing. "Life" does indeed often mean a few years, or at most a decade, with a very few exceptions where the Home Secretary has specifically intervened (e.g. Myra Hindley)
The arithmetic is probably slightly off because he has already served time on remand which will be deducted. See this other example (http://www.squandertwo.net/blog/2006/06/life-of-lifetimes.htm) of a life sentence which means about six years. I don't understand the halving thing, it appears to apply to all sentences.
no subject
As you say, expecting life to mean life puts you immediately on the right wing. "Life" does indeed often mean a few years, or at most a decade, with a very few exceptions where the Home Secretary has specifically intervened (e.g. Myra Hindley)
The arithmetic is probably slightly off because he has already served time on remand which will be deducted. See this other example (http://www.squandertwo.net/blog/2006/06/life-of-lifetimes.htm) of a life sentence which means about six years. I don't understand the halving thing, it appears to apply to all sentences.