It’s neither about justice nor revenge. It’s about people as commodities (read: slaves) that states and private prisons can use for near-free labor. As long as the slaves can and will work, they don’t give a rats ass about the slaves. If the slaves start revolting or dying, and it affects the bottom line, then they will do something.
Can confirm. I made around 30 dollars a month (back in the early 2000s), and I gladly worked because it was an opportunity to GO OUTSIDE. Sometimes even outside the walls.
It's a cruelty system. I know many pro-death penalty people who are really angry that criminals are not getting their throat slit on site, then their slow death recorded for the enjoyment of pro-death penalty people crime deterrence purposes.