if the guy is 90 and he has to wait 20 years before he dies, I think life would do the job earlier.
That's a problem they have with war criminals who are in their 70's and 80's now. Such as the Khmer Rouge camp officers.
I don't have a problem with these rulings because 99.9% of the time the person has done something reprehensible to the point where they can't be a part of civilized society. Madoff lied to everyone and networked a giant Ponzie scheme, and the people/charities/organizations will never see that money ever again. That could have been part of someone's life savings, down the tubes.
On top of that they're setting an example as a way of deterring people that would try similar means of scheming. Moral of the story is: everyone loses.