PrisonReuters/Joshua LottInmates serving a jail sentence walk
back to the yard at Maricopa County's jail in Phoenix July 30,
2010.  TIMOTHY JACKSON stole a jacket from a shop in New Orleans
in 1996. When followed by a detective, he dropped it and tried
to walk away. He was caught, convicted and sentenced to life
imprisonment with no chance of parole. "I’m locked up like I
killed someone," he told the New Orleans Times-Picayune.
Actually, his punishment is harsher than that. Even Charles
Manson, a multiple murderer, is allowed to apply for parole. Mr
Manson is unlikely ever to get it, but at least he receives a
hearing. Mr Jackson, a petty thief, does not.  His punishment is
harsh because he is a recidivist in a state with mandatory tough
sentences for habitual criminals. Under Louisiana’s "four-
strikes" law, his two previous convictions for stealing from
cars and one juvenile conviction for robbery gave the judge no
choice but to throw away the key.  Forget them not  No one knows
how many non-violent criminal