Why we should enforce the death penalty

[DanaC]

Welll.....without having the evidence in front of me to examine and without knowing much about the prison system of America I am going to take a wild stab in the dark and suggest that maybe rapists and murderers who have actually been convicted and sentenced and incarcerated in the State Penitentiary probably dont get the same luxurious conditions you describe. I am guessing that was a small local prison used mainly for lower grade crimes and people who are being held for a few days.

As I said, I think people who have come to the conclusion that prison is an easy option might have in mind one of the smaller holding jails rather than the large scale prisons in which your average rapist or murderer might find themselves.

Edited to say
I do beg your pardon. I assumed by the term Parish Prison that you were referring to a small institution.....I went seeking more information and have fund that "Parish Prisons" are seemingly just as likely to treat their prisoners in an appalling fashion as the larger prisons are.
Found this in an ACLU site

The ACLU, since 1969, and its National Prison Project (ACLU-NPP), since 1979, has had the Orleans Parish Prison (OPP) in litigation over cruel, unusual and inhumane treatment of inmates in its care. This has amounted to "unquestioned and serious deprivations of basic human needs" and/or "the minimal civilized measures of life’s necessities," as defined by the US Supreme Court. In pursuing a minimal level of care at OPP, the ACLU has tried to prevent a tragedy such as the death of arrestee JoAnn Johnson, a brittle diabetic, on April 6, 1999.

Link to full paper

The section I found most disturbing was this

After interviewing over 100 women in OPP regarding medical care and conditions of confinement, the ACLU-NPP on December 8, 1998, filed a motion for emergency relief and enforcement of agreed entry on medical care provisions governing women’s OB/GYN and prenatal care ......... The ACLU found evidence of the following violations, which taken together "threaten the lives of women prisoners and their fetuses:"· Chronic and acute gynecological conditions such as ovarian cysts and vaginal discharge go untreated; Deputies tell pregnant women that they cannot go to the hospital to deliver their babies until 1)their water breaks; 2)they suffer heavy bleeding; or 3)the baby’s head emerges.