Compare and contrast with Norway. Also from the Grauniad: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-prison-inmates-treated-like-people http://ww

Compare and contrast with Norway. Also from the Grauniad: http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-prison-inmates-treated-like-people http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/feb/25/norwegian-pri... Includes this idea that has not been thought of in U.S. prison policy: "...justice for society demands that people we release from prison should be less likely to cause further harm or distress to others, and better equipped to live as law-abiding citizens." Note how the Norwegian system treated the Oslo bomber, by giving him a decent prison existence rather than treating him as the worst of the worst. This has denied him notoriety. He can't 'pay' for his crimes by being cruelly treated. In Norway the re-offending rate is a fraction of anywhere else. So, for the Norwegian taxpayer, the deluxe facilities make financial sense. It would take strong leadership and a generation to move the U.S. 'let them die by lethal injection' to something more like what there is in Norway, however, as Idaho illustrates, moves in the right direction can be made by individual states.