mother lets children die in hot car while getting her hair done.

[MaggieL]

Originally posted by sycamore

I believe part of the problem with prison is that too much is put into the punishment aspect, and not into the rehabilitation part.

The idea that the first purpose of a prison is "rehabilitation" is relatively recent. In fact the word itself is a little question-begging; it suggests *restoring* a condition that for meny criminals has never existed: an ethical system strong enough to keep them from comitting crime.

It's far from clear that the state knows how to do this.

In addition, the criminal element still exists in many, if not most, prisons...

Cookie!

Finding criminality in prisons isn't really all that surprising, is it?