Having served on the Clifton jury, I know we believed the multiple charges were excessive and that the sentencing would be appropriate to the crime. Nobody knew there was the possibility of a 98 year sentence.

With a lesser sentence, one the is not a life sentence in effect, an entirely different future could have unveiled. We'll never know. 

Today I read about a woman who participated in a murder being sentenced to 28 years. Another article tells us a known gang member who shot a person in order to steal a Playstation was sentenced to 20 years. Clifton, of course, received a 98 year sentence.

If we are meting out justice and want to pretend we have a rational justice system, we in fact have to ensure the system is rational. Harkening to Sesame Street, all we can say is 'One of these sentences is (very much) not like the others.'