For me, prisons are the ultimate test in civilization. Convicted felons cannot usually expect to be treated better than any other group in society, so if how they are treated sort of draws a lower bound on the "goodness" of society. If you treat your convicted felons as good as you can, it probably means that the rest of the country is treated even better. That's a very good starting point.

In that respect, I'm sad and ashamed that in my country (the Netherlands), just like in the US, things are pretty crappy. For example, we have a single "maximum security prison" where all the bad and criminally insane people go. When it's time for the prisoners to go out and get some air, the guards lock themselves up on the other side of the fence, and it's each inmate for himself. What could possibly go wrong?

We're a bunch of barbarians and I wish this was at all on the political agenda.