WHY CUTTING DOWN A SAGUARO CAN GET YOU JAIL TIME What Makes This Cactus So Special?
• Saguaros only grow in certain parts of the Sonoran Desert, which extends northward from northwestern Mexico into Arizona and parts of California.
Can you imagine getting 1–4 years in prison for picking a bouquet of flowers or chopping down a tree in your backyard? While not for just any old rose bush or oak tree, that’s the prison sentence you could face in Arizona if you get caught chopping down a saguaro cactus. The saguaro is an iconic cactus species. It’s the tall plant with prickly green arms that you immediately think of when you hear the word “cactus.” If a 1–4-year prison sentence seems harsh, consider these facts about the saguaro: • The saguaro’s white blossom is the Arizona state flower. (Yes, cactuses flower; they bloom in the right conditions, usually during the spring.) Locals take pride in their beloved spiky plants, which means senselessly
You won’t find this rare species anywhere else in the U.S., so it is protected under state law.
• These plants take an incredibly long time to grow and mature — up to 200 years! That means that some of the saguaro cactuses alive today in the Sonoran Desert were probably alive during the Civil War. • People just seem to love cutting down, shooting, and otherwise damaging saguaros. Since they take a long time to mature and are relatively rare
prison time. For a while, news outlets and websites claimed that the penalty was actually closer to 25 years — the sentence someone might get for murder. But, there’s no evidence of that in
Arizona law. However, the fact that this rumor has long been circulated shows that people understand how important the saguaro is and how important it is to conserve them.
to begin with, this vandalism and destruction is a serious problem.
chopping them down is bound to earn you some ire from the state’s residents.
These are some of the reasons why damaging a saguaro cactus is a Class 4 felony in Arizona and punishable with
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This judge-to-be was named William Marbury, and he took his case straight to the U.S. Supreme Court. After hearing the case, Marshall had two options. He could side with Jefferson, even though he believed he was legally wrong, or he could side with Marbury and risk the wrath of the president, who he feared would dissolve the court. In a historic twist, he chose door No. 3. Digging through the Constitution, Marshall discovered a line that required cases to go through a lower court before coming to the Supreme Court. That made Marbury v. Madison , which had come to the Supreme Court directly, out of Marshall’s jurisdiction. It also made the law Marbury had operated under unconstitutional. When Marshall pointed this out, it was the first time the Supreme Court had ever ruled on constitutionality, which set the precedent for its power today. If Marshall hadn’t cared so much about opposing his second cousin in 1803, it’s possible that Judge Barrett’s nomination in 2020 would have been much less contentious.
To learn more about this crazy piece of history, check out “Kitten Kick the Giggly Blue Robot All Summer,” an episode of the podcast “Radiolab.”
Chief Justice John Marshall
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