> Obviously the thought of prison doesn't in fact stop people from breaking the rules Speak for yourself. Articles like this one sure as fuck make me think tw

> Obviously the thought of prison doesn't in fact stop people from breaking the rules Speak for yourself. Articles like this one sure as fuck make me think twice about doing anything even remotely likely to get me into prison. Punishment as deterrence is a legitimate policy within reason. That said, torturing someone with forced isolation until they are completely insane, especially if they are ever getting out, seems counterproductive. [edit: re-read the post I'm replying to and I agree, random irrational punishment is a lousy deterrent. For deterrence to work the system has to be at least nominally fair, and punishment meted out needs to be proportional to the degree of misbehavior. That is clearly not the case with the US justice system, and as the article points out, inside the prison the rules are applied with astonishing caprice and unfairness.]