Motley, I have noticed that you are able to separate people into good people and bad people and have little empathy or compassion for those in the bad category.  Unfortunately, I see this separation process of people into good and bad camps to be the essential quality that real serious criminals use to self justify their actions.  If we have respect for all people, we tend not to cross them so much.  So the inmate problems are unimportant because those people don't count.  I think a person is a lot of things.  Years and years of actions wherein good and bad works accumulate.  We disregard all the good a person has done when a crime is committed and henceforth judge the person on potentially a solitary event typically with no way to get back into society's good graces.  (Felon is forever.)  I think that the ability to separate people into the good and bad camps is distinctly American and lies behind many of our societal problems including the mass murderers.