You're right, Sans Flangi.  Did you know that some states, such as Tennessee have what's called Community Supervision for Life? That law requires certain sexual offenders who have served ALL their time to be placed on parole-type supervision for at least 15 calendar years minimum.  At the end of the 15 years the offender can petition the sentencing court to be released from supervision, but the court is under no duty to grant the petition.  If denied, an offender has to wait 3 years before renewing the petition.  Couldn't you see a judge repeatedly denying a petition until the offender dies of old age? My point is this:  in some states the offender is never even given the chance to show they are willing and determined to stay offense-free without all the intensive supervision and containment strategies.  That means their constitutional rights are diminished for life.  Parolees have lower rights than others.