[Knufferlbert]

I think the "suffer"/"rehabilitation" is only one of the important aspects.

There is a selfish component as well, do I want to have low crime. A successful return to society facilitates that (life sentences for all is the only other alternative). The difference between doing what is right (whatever that means), or what is effective (which is much easier to measure).

Though the blatant disregard for human life in general in the US is quite astonishing for a "western" country.

[Clewza313]

The rights vs outcomes chasm weirds out many visitors to the US. For example, in California every hotel and apartment pool has to be outfitted at considerable expense so any rich but disabled inhabitants could theoretically enjoy their right a dip in the pool while in their wheelchair, although I've never seen these conveyances actually used. Meanwhile, there are mentally ill homeless people outside the hotel, enjoying the freedom of begging for money, camping on the sidewalk and using BART escalators as toilets.