system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:Why do some people get the death sentence for killing 1 person, while others have life in prison for killing 10 people?
gpt
Simple.

Different states, different lawyers, different prosecutors, different judges, different evidence.

The american justice system is based on Enlightenment thinking where no rule can be just without recourse. Which is simply stating "If you don't review each case individually your verdict will often be unjust" therefore we make a decision on a case per case basis, not say killing X people is worth y years in jail.