John Locke Global Essay Prize 2026 Law Prompts Breakdown

Feb 5

The John Locke Institute has just released the prompts for their international essay writing competitions for high school students. They have released three prompts for each of the following categories, philosophy, politics, economics, history, law, psychology, international relations, public policy, science & technology and theology. Each essay must address only one of the questions in your chosen subject category, and must not exceed 2000 words (not counting diagrams, tables of data, endnotes, bibliography or authorship declaration).

To be eligible to compete, one's 19th birthday must fall after 31 May, 2026. Given this easily satisfied requirement for high school students the world over, many compete in this competition, making it incredibly competitive.

The John Locke Competition is one of the most prestigious essay writing competitions for high school students. It ranks alongside the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards as a humanities extracurricular activity that would impress admissions officers. Placing competitively in this competition could be what convinces an admissions officer at an elite university to admit an applicant.

One major difference between the John Locke competition and the Scholastic Writing and Arts Awards is that it has a right-wing, instead of a left-wing focus. Past winning essays have argued for fringe ideas like anarcho-capitalism. The John Locke Institute is committed to upholding the principles of classical liberalism espoused by John Locke, the founder of liberalism. Being liberal in Europe has a different connotation than it does in the U.S. While liberalism in the U.S. is associated with center-left politics like the Democratic Party, in Europe, it denotes what Americans would call libertarians, who believe in laissez-faire economic policies and upholding individual freedom to the point that it might enable individuals to infringe on the liberties of others, such as individuals having the right to deny service to people at their place of business due to their sexual orientation.

Despite the competition's right-wing focus, and the well-known left-wing bias of academics and admissions officers, high school students can place competitively without arguing for positions that would decrease their likability with a left-wing audience when applying to college.

We have extensive experience guiding applicants through this competition and are proud to have students who received at least a commendation from the judges. In this article, we will outline the three law questions they ask and provide resources, along with cliff notes for these resources, to help start one's journey towards drafting compelling answers to these questions.

Law Q1: If legislators and judges all accepted the philosophical theory of determinism, what would be the effect on criminal sentencing?

John Locke's Works

1. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)

Book II, Chapter XXI "Of Power" is Locke's central treatment of free will
Locke argues liberty is the power to act or forbear according to the mind's preference
Distinguishes between liberty (freedom from external constraint) and voluntariness
Locke's compatibilism: we can be free even if our choices are caused
Essential for understanding how Locke would approach determinism and responsibility

2. Two Treatises of Government (1689)

Chapter II establishes that humans are rational agents capable of following natural law
Chapter VIII discusses how consent requires genuine choice
Chapter IX addresses punishment as response to violations of natural law
Locke assumes moral responsibility throughout, relevant for examining what happens if we reject it

3. A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)

Argues coercion cannot change genuine belief
Suggests punishment is only appropriate for voluntary actions
Relevant for examining whether determined actions can be punished

4. Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)

Discusses how character is formed through education and habit
Suggests human behavior is shaped by causes, not purely spontaneous
Relevant for understanding Locke's view on how behavior develops

Historical Resources

1. Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics"

Book III defines voluntary action as prerequisite for moral responsibility
Distinguishes actions done in ignorance from actions done through compulsion
Foundation for Western legal concepts of mens rea and culpability
Essential background for responsibility concepts in law

2. Thomas Hobbes's "Leviathan" (1651)

Chapter XXI argues liberty is compatible with necessity
Hobbes was a determinist who still believed in punishment
Argues punishment serves forward-looking purposes regardless of free will
Important historical precedent for compatibilist approach

3. David Hume's "An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding" (1748)

Section VIII "Of Liberty and Necessity" develops compatibilism
Argues moral responsibility requires causal determination, not freedom from it
Influential on legal thinking about responsibility
Shows determinism need not undermine responsibility

4. Immanuel Kant's "Critique of Practical Reason" (1788)

Argues moral responsibility requires transcendental freedom
Distinguishes phenomenal causation from noumenal freedom
Influential view that determinism would undermine moral responsibility
Represents incompatibilist position

5. Jeremy Bentham's "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation" (1789)

Utilitarian theory of punishment focused on consequences, not desert
Argues punishment justified by deterrence, incapacitation, rehabilitation
Determinism-compatible justification for criminal law
Foundation for consequentialist approach to sentencing

6. Cesare Beccaria's "On Crimes and Punishments" (1764)

Enlightenment critique of retributive punishment
Argues punishment should be proportionate and serve social purposes
Influential on modern criminal justice reform
Framework compatible with determinist worldview

Contemporary Resources

1. Derk Pereboom's "Living Without Free Will" (2001) and "Free Will, Agency, and Meaning in Life" (2014)

Develops "hard incompatibilism" rejecting both libertarian and compatibilist free will
Argues we should abandon retributive punishment
Proposes quarantine model: incapacitation without moral blame
Most developed philosophical case for determinism's implications for law

2. Daniel Dennett's "Freedom Evolves" (2003) and "Elbow Room" (1984)

Defends compatibilism: determinism is compatible with meaningful responsibility
Argues legal practices need not change even if determinism is true
Influential contemporary defense of traditional responsibility concepts
Counterargument to radical revision of criminal law

3. Sam Harris's "Free Will" (2012)

Accessible argument that free will is an illusion
Argues this should transform our approach to criminal justice
Proposes focusing on rehabilitation and public safety, not retribution
Popular treatment reaching wide audience

4. Robert Sapolsky's "Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will" (2023)

Neuroscientist's comprehensive case against free will
Reviews biological, neurological, and environmental determinants of behavior
Argues criminal justice should be radically reformed
Most recent major scientific case for determinism

5. Michael Moore's "Placing Blame" (1997)

Defends retributivism and moral responsibility against determinist challenges
Argues desert-based punishment is justified even given causal explanations
Sophisticated legal philosophy defending traditional approaches
Important counterpoint to revisionist views

6. Stephen Morse's work on "brain overclaim syndrome"

Legal scholar arguing neuroscience doesn't undermine responsibility
Critiques "my brain made me do it" defenses
Defends folk psychology and legal responsibility concepts
Influential in legal academy

7. Joshua Greene and Jonathan Cohen, "For the Law, Neuroscience Changes Nothing and Everything" (2004)

Argues neuroscience will gradually erode retributivist intuitions
Predicts shift toward consequentialist justifications for punishment
Influential law review article on neuroscience and criminal law

Key Questions and Issues to Address

Definitional Challenges

What exactly is "determinism"? Hard determinism, soft determinism, compatibilism?
Does determinism mean all events are caused, or specifically that human choices are caused?
How does Locke's compatibilism relate to contemporary debates?

Theoretical Frameworks

Retributivism: Does determinism undermine the claim that wrongdoers deserve punishment?
Consequentialism: Can deterrence, incapacitation, and rehabilitation survive determinism?
Mixed theories: How would hybrid justifications for punishment be affected?

Specific Sentencing Implications

Would aggravating factors (cruelty, premeditation) still be relevant?
Would mitigating factors (mental illness, childhood abuse) apply to everyone?
How would sentencing guidelines change if all behavior is determined?

Practical Considerations

Could the legal system function if judges announced they don't believe in free will?
Would determinism affect plea bargaining, sentencing hearings, victim impact statements?
How would juries respond to determinist instructions?

Alternative Models

Pereboom's quarantine model: treat dangerous people like carriers of disease
Rehabilitation-focused systems: address causes of criminal behavior
Restorative justice: focus on harm repair rather than blame

Objections and Replies

Does determinism make criminal law incoherent or merely reframe its justification?
Can we maintain deterrence if we publicly deny moral responsibility?
Would abandoning retributivism satisfy victims and society?

Law Q2: To what extent should criminal sentencing take into account the effect on the perpetrator's family?

John Locke's Works

1. Two Treatises of Government (1689)

Chapter VI "Of Paternal Power" discusses family relationships and obligations
Chapter IX argues punishment should be proportionate to the offense
Locke emphasizes individual responsibility: "The Father's Sins shall not be laid upon the Children"
Argues against corruption of blood and attainder affecting families
Provides framework for limiting punishment's reach to the offender

2. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)

Book II, Chapter XXVII on personal identity establishes individualist conception
Argues moral responsibility attaches to the person who performed the action
Relevant for examining whether family effects are the offender's responsibility

3. Some Thoughts Concerning Education (1693)

Discusses children's welfare and development
Emphasizes importance of parental presence for child development
Relevant for understanding family consequences of incarceration

4. A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)

Argues punishment should target only the wrongdoer
Framework for limiting collateral consequences of state action

Historical Resources

1. William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" (1765-1769)

Book IV discusses punishment principles
Addresses corruption of blood and attainder (punishing families for treason)
Historical context for limiting punishment to offenders
Shows evolution away from family-based punishment

2. The U.S. Constitution's Treason Clause

Article III, Section 3: "no Attainder of Treason shall work Corruption of Blood, or Forfeiture except during the Life of the Person attainted"
Constitutional prohibition on punishing families
Shows founding-era commitment to individual punishment
Relevant precedent for limiting family considerations

3. Jeremy Bentham's "An Introduction to the Principles of Morals and Legislation" (1789)

Utilitarian analysis considers all consequences, including to third parties
Argues punishment should minimize total suffering
Framework for weighing family harm against other considerations
Bentham discussed "derivative evils" of punishment affecting innocents

4. Cesare Beccaria's "On Crimes and Punishments" (1764)

Argues punishment should be proportionate and necessary
Critiques excessive punishment that harms society
Relevant for examining social costs of incarceration
Enlightenment framework for criminal justice

5. Historical practices of family punishment

North Korean three-generation punishment
Historical attainder in English law
Biblical "visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children"
Examples of what rejecting individual punishment looks like

Contemporary Resources

1. Megan Comfort's "Doing Time Together: Love and Family in the Shadow of the Prison" (2008)

Ethnographic study of prisoners' families
Documents how incarceration affects partners, children, communities
Empirical evidence on family consequences of imprisonment
Essential for understanding what's at stake

2. National Research Council's "The Growth of Incarceration in the United States" (2014)

Comprehensive review of mass incarceration's effects
Chapter on consequences for families and communities
Documents intergenerational effects of parental incarceration
Authoritative empirical source

3. Sara Wakefield and Christopher Wildeman's "Children of the Prison Boom" (2014)

Research on how parental incarceration affects children
Documents educational, behavioral, and health consequences
Shows incarceration as "collateral consequence" for families
Important empirical foundation

4. Dorothy Roberts's work on race, family, and criminal justice

Examines how criminal justice affects Black families disproportionately
Argues family separation is itself a form of punishment
Framework for understanding racial justice dimensions
Connects criminal law to family law

5. Dan Markel et al., "Privilege or Punish: Criminal Justice and the Challenge of Family Ties" (2007)

Law review article directly addressing the question
Argues family ties should generally not affect sentencing
Distinguishes legitimate from illegitimate considerations
Influential scholarly treatment

6. Douglas Husak's "Overcriminalization" (2008)

Argues criminal law has expanded excessively
Discusses collateral consequences including family effects
Framework for considering proportionality in sentencing
Relevant for understanding systemic context

7. Sentencing guideline documents

Federal Sentencing Guidelines treatment of family responsibilities
U.S. Sentencing Commission reports on departures for family ties
Koon v. United States (1996) on family circumstances as departure factor
Shows how legal system currently handles the question

Key Questions and Issues to Address

Definitional Challenges

Which family effects are relevant? Immediate (children without parent) or extended (elderly parents)?
Should we consider emotional harm, financial harm, or both?
How do we measure or compare family effects across cases?

Theoretical Frameworks

Retributivism: Should desert-based punishment ignore consequences to innocents?
Consequentialism: How do we weigh family harm against deterrence and public safety?
What would Locke's individual responsibility framework suggest?

Arguments For Considering Family Effects

Children are innocent and shouldn't suffer for parents' crimes
Family disruption creates future social problems and crime
Proportionality requires considering total harm caused by punishment
Family support enables successful reentry and reduces recidivism

Arguments Against Considering Family Effects

Creates inequality: offenders with families treated better than those without
Rewards having children, potentially perverse incentive
Undermines equal treatment before the law
Victims also have families affected by the crime

Practical Considerations

How would courts assess family circumstances?
Would consideration create litigation over family situations?
How do we prevent fraudulent or exaggerated family claims?
Should it matter whether offender was actually involved in family before crime?

Alternative Approaches

Keep sentencing blind to family but provide services to affected families
Use alternatives to incarceration (home confinement, community service) when family effects severe
Consider family effects only at margins, not as primary factor
Different treatment for primary caregivers versus other family members

Law Q3: Is trial by jury obsolete?

John Locke's Works

1. Two Treatises of Government (1689)

Chapter VII discusses the role of impartial judges in civil society
Chapter IX argues people leave state of nature partly to get fair adjudication
Locke valued fair trials but didn't specifically discuss jury versus judge
Framework for evaluating what makes adjudication legitimate

2. An Essay Concerning Human Understanding (1689)

Book IV discusses how we form judgments under uncertainty
Examines probability and degrees of assent
Relevant for evaluating whether jurors or judges better assess evidence
Addresses how lay versus expert reasoning should be valued

3. A Letter Concerning Toleration (1689)

Discusses dangers of concentrated power
Relevant for examining jury as check on government authority
Framework for distributed decision-making

Historical Resources

1. Magna Carta (1215)

Chapter 39: "No free man shall be seized or imprisoned... except by the lawful judgment of his equals"
Foundation of right to jury trial in common law
Essential historical context for jury's development
Shows jury's role in limiting sovereign power

2. William Blackstone's "Commentaries on the Laws of England" (1765-1769)

Book III, Chapter XXIII: "the trial by jury ever has been, and I trust ever will be, looked upon as the glory of the English law"
Classic defense of jury system
Discusses jury as palladium of English liberty
Historical argument for jury's constitutional importance

3. Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" (1835)

Volume I, Chapter XVI discusses American jury system
Argues jury is political institution educating citizens
Sees jury as school for self-government
Influential defense of jury's democratic function

4. The Federalist Papers on juries

Federalist No. 83 (Hamilton) on civil juries
Anti-Federalist concerns about jury trial preservation
Shows founding-era commitment to jury rights
Constitutional background for American jury system

5. The trial of William Penn (1670)

Bushel's Case established jury independence
Jury refused to convict despite judicial pressure
Foundation for jury nullification concept
Historical example of jury checking government power

6. Historical development of professional judges

Roman law tradition of trained judges
European inquisitorial systems
Development of judicial expertise and specialization
Alternative tradition to common law jury trial

Contemporary Resources

1. Neil Vidmar and Valerie Hans's "American Juries: The Verdict" (2007)

Comprehensive empirical review of jury performance
Compares jury verdicts to judge decisions
Finds juries generally competent and reasonable
Authoritative defense of jury system based on evidence

2. Harry Kalven and Hans Zeisel's "The American Jury" (1966)

Classic empirical study comparing judge and jury verdicts
Found agreement in approximately 80% of cases
Where they disagreed, examined reasons
Foundation for empirical jury research

3. Shari Diamond's research on jury decision-making

Studies using actual deliberation recordings (Arizona Filming Project)
Shows juries engage seriously with evidence
Challenges assumptions about jury incompetence
Important empirical evidence on jury quality

4. Cass Sunstein et al.'s "Punitive Damages: How Juries Decide" (2002)

Documents problems with jury damage awards
Shows systematic biases and inconsistency
Argues for reforms in civil jury function
Evidence for jury limitations in complex cases

5. Richard Posner's critiques of jury system

Prominent judge arguing juries are inefficient
Advocates for reduced jury role, especially in civil cases
Argues complexity of modern cases exceeds jury competence
Represents judicial skepticism of juries

6. Akhil Amar's "The Bill of Rights" (1998)

Chapter on Sixth and Seventh Amendments
Discusses original purposes of jury rights
Argues jury was meant to check government, not just find facts
Constitutional perspective on jury's role

7. Japan and other countries' jury reforms

Japan's lay judge (saiban-in) system introduced 2009
Russia's jury reintroduction after Soviet era
Comparative perspective on jury systems worldwide
Shows jury is not uniquely Anglo-American

8. Empirical research on jury versus bench trial outcomes

Studies comparing outcomes in criminal and civil cases
Research on case complexity and jury performance
Evidence on racial and other biases in jury decisions
Empirical foundation for evaluating jury performance

Key Questions and Issues to Address

Definitional Challenges

"Obsolete" compared to what alternative? Professional judges, mixed tribunals, AI?
Should we evaluate juries for criminal, civil, or both contexts?
What criteria determine whether an institution is obsolete?

Theoretical Frameworks

Democratic legitimacy: Does jury provide essential popular participation?
Epistemic quality: Do juries reach accurate verdicts?
Liberty protection: Does jury check government overreach?
What would Locke's framework for legitimate adjudication suggest?

Arguments That Jury Is Obsolete

Modern cases too complex for lay understanding (scientific evidence, financial crimes)
Jurors are subject to cognitive biases and manipulation
Jury trials are expensive, slow, and inefficient
Most cases settle or plea bargain anyway, making jury largely symbolic
Professional judges are better trained for evidence evaluation

Arguments That Jury Remains Essential

Democratic participation in justice system
Check on prosecutorial and judicial overreach
Brings community standards to bear on law
Jury nullification as last defense against unjust laws
Empirical evidence shows juries perform reasonably well

Comparative Perspectives

How do civil law systems (no jury) perform?
What do mixed tribunal systems (professional and lay judges) suggest?
Why have some countries introduced or reintroduced juries?

Reform Options

Smaller juries (6 vs. 12)
Non-unanimous verdicts
Special juries for complex cases
Expert witnesses and court-appointed experts
Better jury instructions and decision aids
Hybrid systems with professional and lay judges

Specific Contexts

Criminal versus civil cases
Simple versus complex litigation
Local versus federal courts
Capital punishment cases
Cases involving technical or scientific evidence

If you are overwhelmed by the number of sources and complexity of answering these questions, we understand. English teachers don't prepare high school students to tackle such formidable challenges in legal analysis. But we do. Schedule a free consultation with a John Locke competition writing expert today and learn how to unpack all of these sources to write a coherent and logically sound 2000 word essay which will earn you a competitive placing in this competition and impress admission officers.

Work With Our John Locke Expert Coaches

Cosmic College Consulting has helped students earn shortlists, commendations, and prizes in the John Locke Competition. Our three expert coaches have collectively supervised 50+ John Locke essays and bring deep expertise in philosophy, politics, economics, and academic writing.

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