Even if an inmate's sentence is not oppressively long, their treatment while incarcerated can still constitute subhuman treatment. Prisons are not medical facilities, but they regularly are forced to deal with mental health problems and care for elderly and terminally ill inmates. Food, if it's even edible, usually lacks enough nutrition for inmates' health to not deteriorate. Plus, with a lack of opportunities to see family, read, or gain skill sets, inmates are placed in buildings which lack any resemblance of the civilized world.
“The book's author, Georgetown University Professor Paul Butler, said he never understood why his book was considered contraband, but he is grateful the pressure campaign caused Arizona corrections officials to rethink their position.“
NPR
June 21, 2019
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