"An unenforceable law" - not unenforceable, just ineffective to do what you suggest, protect the prisoners, prevent harm. If the prisoners obeyed laws, they wouldn't be where they are. Even the most well-intentioned and well-run prison system can't protect prisoners completely. The worst don't even come close. Prisons aren't safe for guards, either, you know. You're locked in with murderers, rapists, robbers, it's not exactly safe working conditions.
Most people don't get sent to prison for a first offense, or for a petty crime. They get put in prison because the judge and the jury want to keep them away from the rest of us for a very long time. At the same time, they are human, too, and deserve as much safety as is possible.
Edit: prison is different from jail. Prison is for felonies, jail for misdemeanors. Jails can be badly run, too. Overcrowding is more of a problem in jails because prisoners are held in jail during the trial process and then transferred to prison if they are convicted of a felony, but if the prison is overcrowded the warden may refuse to take them. That's at the state level. At the federal level I believe prisoners are detained at federal prisons until the trial is done - although usually people bond out at both state and federal level, if they can. |
