In many countries around the world , particularly in the Commonwealth , courts have the authority to pass prison terms which may amount to '' de facto '' life imprisonment . For example , courts in South Africa have handed out at least two sentences that have exceeded a century , and in Tasmania , Australia , Martin Bryant , the perpetrator of the Port Arthur massacre in 1996 , received 35 life sentences , plus 1,035 years without parole , while Aurora Cinema shooter James Holmes , who received 12 consecutive life sentences and an extra 3,318 years without the possibility of parole for killing 12 and injuring 70 in his shooting spree , and also booby trapping his apartment with explosives . Few countries allow for a minor to be given a lifetime sentence with no provision for eventual release ; these include Antigua and Barbuda , Argentina ( only over the age of 16 ) , Australia , Belize , Brunei , Cuba , Dominica , Saint Vincent and the Grenadines , the Solomon Islands , Sri Lanka , and the United States . According to a University of San Francisco Law School study , only the U.S. had minors serving such sentences in 2008 . In 2009 , Human Rights Watch estimated that there were 2,589 youth offenders serving life sentences without the possibility for parole in the U.S . The United States leads in life sentences ( both adults and minors ) , at a rate of 50 people per 100,000 ( 1 out of 2,000 ) residents imprisoned for life
Port Arthur massacre
Port Arthur massacre (Australia)
Life imprisonment