Prison is intended to be rehabilitative as well as punitive – especially for non-violent and first-time offenders. A prison sentence that is too long may only serve one of these goals. The United States has an overincarceration problem. We put a lot of people in prison – according to the World Prison Brief, the U.S. ranks among the top countries for total prison population, second only to China – and we keep them there too long. [...]

In today’s day and age, law enforcement have a wide variety of advanced technology to assist them in determining whether a person is under the influence of drugs or alcohol while driving. One might assume that with such tools at their fingertips, any guesswork would be out of the running in deciding the guilt of the accused. However, despite these advancements, law enforcement still uses the unscientific approach of drug recognition experts, or DREs. These [...]

As of 2019, Tennessee prisons housed over 25,000 prisoners spread across 11 different facilities. The offenders vary in degree, but almost all of them work different jobs within those facilities at some point during their sentences. While helping convicts prepare for working after their release is undoubtedly a positive, poor conditions and an overall lack of choice lends to a far less savory idea — specifically, the idea that offender labor is nothing more than a [...]

As the pandemic slowly winds down, people are starting to travel again. We’re seeing an increase in the number of tourists here at home, and it’s safe to assume that other states are experiencing an influx of visitors as well. Some of them – like Illinois and Virginia, perhaps – may see some of our residents popping over the border for a very specific purpose: to get their hands on some legal marijuana. “Weed tourism” as [...]

When you’re charged with any sort of crime, the prosecution and court as a whole work as hard as possible to prove your alleged guilt — even if none exists. Ideally, everyone is innocent until they are proven guilty, but guilty treatment often starts much sooner than conviction. This prejudice and unjust behavior against defendants can easily lead to a violation of their rights. The prosecution may spin stories, put too much faith in the [...]

There are several ways a person can be impaired behind the wheel, but today's focus is on alcohol specifically. The reason drunk driving accidents happen is that alcohol significantly reduces brain function. It causes a driver to have impaired reasoning and muscle coordination. Logic is also affected. Many drivers are under the impression that they can drive while intoxicated. The reality is they cannot, and there are innocent victims on the road who will suffer. According [...]