[razakel]

>Aren't prisons supposed to be like that? In my perception, the goal of prison is exactly that: be like hell so other people are afraid of getting there enough so they don't commit crime?

What about the wrongly convicted? I understand the desire for revenge, but prisons should be safe, secure and inmates should come out of there as people you'd be happy to have as a neighbor.

When you treat prisoners like animals, they'll act like animals.

[sokoloff]

> I understand the desire for revenge, but prisons should be safe, secure and inmates should come out of there as people you'd be happy to have as a neighbor.

All else being equal, I’d always prefer a non-ex-con over an ex-con as a neighbor. I doubt I’m alone in this.

[Fjolsvith]

At least you know where you stand with someone who's been caught before. Every ex-con starts out as a non-ex-con.

[luckylion]

> When you treat prisoners like animals, they'll act like animals.

And when you don't treat them like animals, they will still act like animals. Some, of course, not all, just like today not all US-inmates come out acting like animals.