I think the worst of it is in jail conditions. Most people in jail haven't been convicted of a crime (although jails do double duty for short term sentences, which is another wtf.) Jails should be a comfortable as dorm rooms, and have internet and phone. You're put in jail so you don't leave; the rationale isn't supposed to be to punish, but somehow it still is.
Jails ARE absolutely supposed to punish people kept inside. They aren't called penitentiary for nothing, literally meaning "a place for punishment" [1]
I would like to point out that there is a huge difference between codified punishment vs how it is in practice.
For example I am pretty sure if you create a bill that says prison inmates are required to give a fellatio to other inmates it will not muster a single vote in Congress. Yet, it is reality of prisons. Now, is penitentiary supposed to punish people like this ? No. Do most Americans find pleasure in the fact that inmates in prison are treated like this ? I think Yes.
The point is once you are in prison for whatever reason, your life is essentially done even if the punishment was for few years. You wont get a job, no one will rent a place to you, you wont get a loan and so on. Unless you have a pretty big community safety net you wont survive.
I believe the GP was making a distinction between jail and prison. Jail is where you are held until your trial or you make bail. Prison is where you are sent after you are convicted. A penitentiary would be a prison, not a jail.
Even prison should be without "cruel and unusual punishment", with emphasis on "cruel". For example, letting prisoners die in extreme heat is cruelty on its face. John Oliver had a thing on this recently[1]. Looks like Texas has done the minimal thing, which is effectively nothing [2].
