I will defer to Justice Frankfurter's concurrence in United States v. Rabinowitz:
"It is a fair summary of history to say that the safeguards of liberty have frequently been forged in controversies involving not very nice people."
The point is, we should care about how prisoners are treated not because of who the prisoners are, but because of who is responsible for the treatment of prisoners (e.g., the government). There are cases where solitary confinement is appropriate - violence towards other prisoners and guards is a prime example. According to this article and others, however, solitary confinement is also being increasingly used for minor prison . That is arguably unconstitutional (cruel & unusual punishment), and we should be concerned any time the government violates the Constitution, even when it does so to "not very nice people."
One of the early prisons in this country was all solitary confinement. They moved away from it because of the space problems. It’s not cruel or unusual it’s punishment, something they earned by breaking laws. Maybe if they were a little better at being by themselves they would have avoided prison.
Excellent and spot on. I’m a big believer in the death penalty, but here in Illinois our justice system, if you can call it that, is an utter failure. Our AG is the daughter of our House Speaker. You likely know the reputation of Illinois corruption. She can’t find anyone to prosecute.
We’d better be careful as conservatives not to forget that government fails, cops carry throw guns, and justice isn’t blind.