> The question is: are prisons meant to be a punishment or a rehabilation facility? If the former, then they are too good and if the latter, then they are not up to par and failing miserably. Should they be both? Do we need separate prisons for each type of crime so the punishment or rehabilitation is appropriately administered? For some areas, the rehabilitation portion is done in a step-down facility and not at the prison.

That is the real question, isn't it? My take is that we're hardly doing ourselves any favors with prisoners that will be released - we're breeding sociopaths in there. If they're truly in there for life, then fine. But if you ever expect to release these people our approach needs to change. Too many of them come out worse than they went in. I don't know what the real answer is, though.