they also found that the inmates are treated horribly and taken advantage of sometimes as slave labor
That's what prison should be about for serious crimes. We've got one not far from my house and when you drive by in the evening you can see all the tv's on in each of the cells. Fuck that. No TV, No radio, No Fun. You're not going to be rehabilitated, it's hasn't been shown to work.
Do some hard time with some hard ass work.
Non serious crimes...I can see your point.