The death penalty is a widely contested form of punishment plaguing legal theorists, juries, and society as a whole today. Current death penalty jurisprudence in the United States, which developed as a reaction to the brief abolition of the death penalty following Furman v. Georgia in 1972, has created an arbitrary and immoral system that relies upon a balance between aggravating and mitigating factors. An aggravating factor is “any fact or circumstance that increases the sev

It is estimated that in 2017, nearly 809,700 children under the age of 18 were arrested in the United States for crimes including burglary, arson, drug abuse, and homicide. [1] This statistic displays an intensifying debate in America: the treatment of children in the criminal justice system. While these youths were clearly convicted for violating the law, what remains unclear in the law is how these children should be distinguished from their adult criminal counterparts. The

“They’re just looking at the crime. They don’t take into account how you grew up. They don’t take into account whether you had your parents in your life. You’re sentenced to life without parole. You’re a predator, and that’s it.” [1] These are the words of Anthony Rolon, a thirty-nine-year-old man who is currently serving life without parole for fatally stabbing a man when he was just seventeen. Rolon is one of 2,100 individuals in the United States prison system today who is

As numerous wildfires tore across California, approximately 1,500 inmates worked alongside professional firefighting crews to quell the flames. Typically, professional firefighters earn around $74,000 a year, excluding benefits. Prisoners working as firefighters earn about $1.45 a day for their work, roughly thirteen percent of the hourly minimum wage in California. [1] The discrepancy between the pay of salaried and incarcerated firefighters reduces firefighting costs by $10

The Eighth Amendment states, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” This promise of protection against unjust punishment remains relevant and is subject to reinterpretation, especially in light of the drastic changes to the American penal system since the nation’s founding. Although directly contradictory case precedent exists that demands sentencing practices consider the character and actions of indi