Austria case revives European debate on light prison terms

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Experts say Europe's shorter sentences and its reluctance to jail people for offenses considered minor, such as possessing small amounts of marijuana help explain why its prisons are far less crowded than U.S. lockups.

The U.S. has the most prisoners per capita in the world, with 751 for every 100,000 people, according to the London-based International Center for Prison Studies. Most European nations trail far behind: Britain's rate is 151 per 100,000, Austria's is 108 and Denmark's is 66.

Fritzl surely would face a tougher prison term anywhere in America, and in some states maybe even the death penalty, said Dan Richman, a law professor at Columbia University.

"I think it's fair to say that in any jurisdiction in the U.S. his maximum sentence would be much more severe," he said.

In Italy, murder carries a minimum sentence of 21 years and a maximum of life. But life terms are rarely handed down in a system that emphasizes rehabilitation over incarceration, said Carlo Guarnieri, a justice expert at the University of Bologna Law School.

"The Italian system is very European and not American at all," Guarnieri said. "In general terms, penalties are lenient. The general outlook of the court is in favor or rehabilitation, although today there is a lot of discussion that this doesn't work."

In Austria, prosecutors are still mulling how to charge Fritzl, who police say confessed to imprisoning his daughter Elisabeth now 42 in a warren of windowless, soundproofed rooms beneath his home when she was 18 and raping her repeatedly.

They say Fritzl also admitted to incinerating the body of one of the seven children he fathered after the child died in infancy.

Authorities say Fritzl could face up to 15 years if convicted of rape. Prosecutors are looking into whether the retired electrician could be tried for "murder through failure to act" in the infant's death.

Austria's criminal code prescribes prison terms ranging from 10 to 20 years to life for murder but in Austrian terms, a life sentence is interpreted as 20 to 25 years of confinement.

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