While incarcerated members of society have limited rights under the Constitution, they are still protected under the 8th Amendment, protecting them from cruel and unusual punishment and requiring that they are provided with a minimum standard of living. Thus, the adverse, potentially fatal, health implications of incarceration during the pandemic raises severe ethical concerns due to the undue harm experienced by inmates.

As universities around the country begin planning their spring semester, concerns around “the failures” of many universities to protect students in the fall are resurfacing. Underneath all of them lies the question of culpability; whether the students themselves are to blame for rampant rates of COVID-19 on campus, or whether administrators are at fault for bringing students back to a centralized location.