Bobby Jindal, Corporal Punishment, and Prison

" [J]ustice without cruelty pleases people more than remiss mercy." -Gracian, A Pocket Mirror for Heroes, Currency/Doubleday 1996, p. 28

"The only thing that prisons demonstrably cure is heterosexuality." -John D. MacDonald, The Long Lavender Look

Recently read that the Governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal has signed a bill mandating chemical castration (and allowing for physical castration in some instances) for certain categories sex offenders, in addition to their prison sentences.

How is it that the death penalty is cruel and unusual, but castration is just fine? And on that note, why is flogging so cruel and unusual, but years of confinement with all the horrors that that entails in America and most other countries is seen as humane?

Instead of sending someone to face years of abuse, malnutrition, lost time, and corrupting company, why not offer criminals, at least in some categories (non violent offenders like thieves for example), the option of receiving their penalty through corporal punishment? It will hurt strongly enough to make an impression, and yet, after a recovery period that probably won't exceed two months, a man can go back to work and not be separated from family and other institutions that might provide him a measure of healthy support in remaking his life.

And, if someone has committed a crime of sufficient gravity that trusting him in the world at large is not reasonably feasible, like the future castrates of Louisiana, keeping them in a much reduced prison population might have more beneficent effects. Of course the death penalty might be more just and, in the end, merciful, but since that is not an option, I believe that confinement is obviously more reasonable in those cases.

In response to the criticism that corrections is not about retribution, but rehabilitating the criminal to socially acceptable behavior, do you think prisons are doing that now?