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Punishment

Two men hug in a public park. | Monkey Business Images | Dreamstime.com

Indonesia

Brickbat: Hands Off

Charles Oliver | 8.25.2025 4:00 AM

Helen Prejean arguing against the death penalty | SUSAN G. STOCKER/KRT Photos via PressLink/Newscom

Death Penalty

Helen Prejean: Why This Nun Is Fighting To End the Death Penalty

Billy Binion speaks to Sister Helen Prejean about her activism to end the death penalty, as depicted in her book Dead Man Walking.

Billy Binion | 1.1.2025 11:00 AM

Helen Prejean | Photo: Sister Helen Prejean on June 6, 2024, in New York City; Justin Bettman/Contour by Getty Images

Death Penalty

Sister Helen Prejean on Capital Punishment, Justice, and Meeting Victims' Families

"Jesus said, 'Love your enemy.' Jesus didn't say, 'Execute the hell out of the enemy,'" the Catholic nun and anti–death penalty activist tells Reason.

Billy Binion | 1.1.2025 6:00 AM

Four-square collage of photos from inside jails, an image of a corroded jail sink, and a snippet from a filing in Mattix, et al. v. Tarrant County, Texas. | Illustration Lex Villena; Midjourney

Jail

3 People Died of Thirst in a Texas County Jail in Under 2 Years

All three inmates were mentally ill and became dehydrated despite ready access to water.

Joe Lancaster | 5.23.2024 2:15 PM

Erma Wilson is seen next to the 5th Circuit ruling granting her a rehearing | Institute for Justice; U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit

Criminal Justice

Can This Woman Sue the Rogue Prosecutor Who Allegedly Helped Upend Her Life?

Prosecutor Ralph Petty was also employed as a law clerk—by the same judges he argued before.

Billy Binion | 5.16.2024 4:45 PM

A map of the US in black and white in the background with a table from an execution chamber in the foreground | Illustration: Lex Villena; ID 236845642 © Conchasdiver | Dreamstime.com

Death Penalty

Alabama Discovers There Is No 'Humane' Way To Execute Someone

Instead of searching for gentle execution methods, states should just stop killing prisoners.

Emma Camp | 3.14.2024 3:45 PM

the shadow of fines and feed haunts juvenile offenders, often making rehabilitation and a better future harder | Illustration: Lex Villena; Midjourney

Excessive Fines

Ending Fees and Fines for Juvenile Offenders is Best for Rehabilitation

A former chief judge of Delaware's Family Court argues that imposing fines and fees on juvenile offenders undermines their potential to become productive, law-abiding adults.

Chandlee Kuhn | 3.13.2024 2:15 PM

Kenneth Eugene Smith | Illustration: Lex Villena; Alabama Department of Corrections

Death Penalty

'The Most Horrible Thing I've Ever Seen': Alabama Executes Inmate With Experimental Method

Kenneth Eugene Smith was likely the first person in the world to be executed by nitrogen hypoxia.

Emma Camp | 1.26.2024 3:00 PM

minis_thekidsofrutherfordcounty | The Kids of Rutherford County

Criminal Justice

Review: Exposing a Broken Juvenile Court System

Kids were jailed for minor offenses, as detailed in The Kids of Rutherford County podcast.

Emma Camp | 1.26.2024 6:00 AM

Kenneth Eugene Smith | Illustration: Lex Villena; Alabama Department of Corrections

Death Penalty

Alabama Set To Use Experimental Execution Method

In killing Kenneth Eugene Smith by nitrogen hypoxia, the state would be using him as a "test subject," Smith's lawyers argue.

Emma Camp | 1.11.2024 3:03 PM

Print depicting the punishment of convicts in 1869 | Photo: Print depicting the punishment of convicts, 1869; The New York Public Library

Law & Government

Federal Judge Questions 'Evolving Standards' Test for Cruel and Unusual Punishment

The Supreme Court judges Eighth Amendment cases with "evolving standards of decency." Some conservative jurists don't like it.

C.J. Ciaramella | 1.2.2024 6:30 AM

Donald Trump giving a speech | Brian Cahn/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom

Donald Trump

Retribution, Deterrence, and the Case for Prosecuting Trump for Conspiring to Overturn the 2020 Election

His attempt to stay in power despite losing an election is well worthy of prosecution and punishment, on grounds of retribution and deterrence.

Ilya Somin |The Volokh Conspiracy | 8.2.2023 12:49 AM

minnesota house chambers | Glen Stubbe/ZUMA Press/Newscom

Criminal Justice

Minnesota Caps Length of Probation Sentences

A Reason investigation earlier this year detailed the case of a Minnesota woman who was sentenced to 40 years on probation for a drug crime.

C.J. Ciaramella | 5.26.2023 3:19 PM

Govenor Mike DeWine, execution chamber. | Jintak Han/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom, Conchasdiver

Death Penalty

Will Ohio Kill The Death Penalty?

Recent efforts from the governor, the attorney general, and state legislators suggest the state is moving away from capital punishment.

Emma Camp | 4.18.2023 2:47 PM

Proposition--Mentally-Ill-Homeless-People-Must-Be-Locked-Up-for-Public-Safety | Photo: Nathan Dumlao/Unsplash

Homelessness

Debate: Mentally Ill Homeless People Must Be Locked Up for Public Safety

Have we forgotten the era of mass institutionalization?

Jared Meyer and Mike Riggs | 4.11.2023 7:00 AM

Body camera footage shows a police officer shooting A'Donte Washington | Bonneville County Sheriff's Department

Criminal Justice

He Got 30 Years for Murder After a Cop Killed His Friend

Lakeith Smith's case epitomizes the issues with the "felony murder" doctrine.

Billy Binion | 4.5.2023 2:16 PM

31 (1) | Illustration: Lex Villena

Punishment

New Lawsuit Challenges New Jersey's Lifetime Child Abuse Registry

"Lifetime registries are wrong," said the plaintiff's attorney. "They're wrong based on the science and they're wrong based on the reality that risk is not static. It is dynamic."

Emma Camp | 3.7.2023 5:08 PM

In a 2003 Supreme Court opinion, Justice Anthony Kennedy accepted unsubstantiated assumptions about the benefits of sex offender registration and blithely dismissed its costs. | Ron Sachs/CNP/Picture Alliance/Consolidated News Photos/Newscom

Supreme Court

How SCOTUS Promoted Pernicious Myths About Sex Offender Registries

Twenty years ago, the justices deemed registration nonpunitive, accepting unsubstantiated assumptions about its benefits and blithely dismissing its costs.

Jacob Sullum | 3.1.2023 12:01 AM

Cannabis leaves | MIS Photography

Drugs

How a Drafting Error Made It Harder for New Yorkers To Obtain Relief From Marijuana Felony Records

Because legislators omitted a crucial letter, there is no straightforward way to downgrade convictions for offenses that are no longer felonies.

Jacob Sullum | 2.14.2023 3:25 PM

a shadowy figure of a man superimposed on a map of Texas | Illustration: Lex Villena

Solitary Confinement

Texas Death Row Prisoners Sue Over Automatic Solitary Confinement

The state's "arbitrary requirement to house all male death row prisoners in permanent solitary confinement does not promote safety and security, is inconsistent with correctional best practices, and serves no penological purpose," the lawsuit claims.

Emma Camp | 1.27.2023 3:45 PM

A bed in an execution chamber | Conchasdiver / Dreamstime.com

Death Penalty

Arizona Pauses Executions After Gov. Hobbs Orders a Review of the State's Procedures.

"It's time to address the fact that this is a system that needs better oversight on numerous fronts," Gov. Katie Hobbs said in a Friday press release.

Emma Camp | 1.24.2023 2:27 PM

Sebastian County, Arkansas Sheriff's Department | Sebastian County Sheriff's Office/Facebook

Criminal Justice

A Man Pointed a Finger Gun at Cops, Was Jailed for Over a Year Without Trial, and Starved to Death Behind Bars

Plus: Court reminds cops they can't pull people over just to flirt, salary range laws aren't working as planned, and more...

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 1.17.2023 9:59 AM

Needle prepared for injection | Illustration: Lex Villena; Stevanovicigor

Death Penalty

Is Texas About To Use Expired Drugs To Execute Death Row Inmates?

Defendants say this practice violates the state’s own laws. The attorney general is pushing onward anyway.

Scott Shackford | 1.6.2023 2:20 PM

prison worker | Maja Hitij/dpa/picture-alliance/Newscom

Reason Roundup

Prison Slavery Up for a Vote in 5 States

Plus: Federal court dismisses state challenge to student loan debt forgiveness, not all independent contractors want to be employees, and more...

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 10.21.2022 9:30 AM

Large image on homepages

Lifestyle

When School Kids Lose Their Recess Time

Lenore Skenazy | 2.19.2018 6:00 AM

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