Anyone know what Norway will do when Breivik's 21 year prison sentence [0] is up in 10-12 years? Difficult to imagine him being released back into society.
He was not sentenced to regular prison, but rather detention[1]. The difference being that the former is a punishment and the latter is to protect the public.
While detention must be evaluated at given intervals, it can be extended indefinitely[2].
It doesn't mean that such prisoners are definitely released with 21 years - it can (and likely will) be extended indefinitely for as long as a prisoner remains dangerous to society:
> If the prisoner is still considered dangerous after serving the original sentence, the detention can be extended by five years at a time. Renewal of the detention every five years can in theory result in actual life imprisonment.
It’s fascinating getting glimpses of other justice systems like this. Meanwhile in the US many states have three-strikes laws where you can get a mandatory life sentence for repeat offenses, even if the last offense is relatively minor or non-violent. Insanity.
Why exactly is it insanity? I like the 3 strikes better (my only concern is drug crime and other non-crime) - 3 separate occasions of disregarding others' most basic rights establish a clear pattern; the society reciprocates by not respecting the rights of the criminal as it protects itself from them. It's only incidentally a punishment, it's really removal - in fact, humanistic removal, the more cost-effective one would be execution.
Now, in case as unique and clear-cut as that of Breivik, I would advocate for an extremely rare application of actual punishment-punishment - e.g., keeping him alive for as long as possible while torturing him.
As for three-strikes-society-removes-you, that's probably my favorite part of the justice system in the US.
While detention must be evaluated at given intervals, it can be extended indefinitely[2].
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preventive_detention
[2]: https://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forvaring