If you're in prison, you're in there for good reason, generally. The punishment has evolved from extremely harsh 200years ago through to comparatively comfortable. You get to speak to your buddies most of the time, shoot pool etc. fuck that, you go to jail, the CO's should tear a hole in your ass. When you thought about committing the crime you got caught for, you obviously weighed up the pros/cons and thought the time would be a reasonable risk...simply because you know usually you usually get treated ok if you keep your head down. if it where a hellhole most would think twice, especially in societies where we have luxuries everywhere (compared to harsh prisons in underdeveloped countries).
The punishment shouldn't be prison, it should happen IN prison...at whatever scale it may be
You're confusing low level yards with regular and max security prison. There are no pool tables. And there is punishment "in" prison. The atmosphere you're referring to is typically the case with white collar criminals, wall street types, and some mobsters. But I have a feeling you're not referring to them when you say you want prisons to be tougher.
I love the "prison should be tougher" crowd, as if that's a true cause for deterrence. There are plenty of countries with penal systems much more harsh than the US and guess what, people still get locked up. Nobody is gonna consider how bad prison is before they commit a crime because no one thinks they're gonna get caught.
Take a look at Joe Arpaio.. Guy has made a storied career out of being tough on crime and making prisons tougher, but those prisons are still overcrowded, cause on the street no one thinks twice about Joe Arpaio and whatever the fuck he's doing in the can.. Don't get me wrong, I don't think prisons should be country clubs, but you guys kill me with the "we need to make prisons tougher" talk.
