Why, Exactly, Should We Do This?

Naturally, the obligatory link: City Giving Free Condoms To Male Prisoners

Really, doesn't the title say absolutely everything that needs to be said here? When they called it Philadelphia, the City of Brotherly Love... this ain't what they intended, pure and simple. Prison isn't supposed to be a nice place, and it's certainly not supposed to be a place where we go out of our way to make the lives of the people who've been deservedly put there easier.

Sure, people can go on about how "the cost is minimal", and "it may save expenses and lives", but we've long gone past the general purpose of prisons. If we're not trying to kill these people, all we owe them as human beings is the minimum sustenance necessary to survive. It doesn't have to be spotless, it doesn't have to be gourmet, and it certainly shouldn't involve cable television and safe sex condom distributions.

Let's face a simple fact here: We're nice to these people. Sure, we incarcerate them, but the moment we do, life improves for many of 'em. Something to consider, next time someone brings up this country's expansive prison population. We're going too far out of our way, and society at large seems to have no interest in finally drawing the line on it.