I think it’s terrible that the US system releases convicts and calls them “rehabilitated” basically only if they manage to stay out of prison. Meanwhile the prisons are shitholes that more often than not offer no actual rehabilitation, or it may be limited or have barriers to access. Meanwhile their “convict” status follows them for the rest of their lives, hindering their future prospects and how they are viewed by society at large.

The impression I get from Europeans is that they view their legal system as too soft on crime, letting people escape harsher punishments or seemingly any punishment at all. It’s the same view in the US of our own system, except that I’d view ours to be randomly far harsher on minorities/poverty than white, and almost nonexistent vs the wealthy. In a way I think the EU system is better. Petty crime seems to be more of a thing, partly thanks to tourism and immigrants, but their treatment of the prison system seems far better than the hellholes we “rehabilitate” people in.

Point being, prisons don’t all have to be shitholes that do little to nothing for inmates to prevent them from remaining or returning to prison. The US seems barely above some of the worst prisons we hear about in other poor countries.