So is the US sentencing system, which dishes out decades in prison to irresponsible teenagers and non-violent drug offenders, effectively ensuring they can never re-integrate to society.

In most of the world, sentences are measured in months, and it takes something on the level of murder to end up behind bars for over a decade.

In Denmark we have a bunch of problems with prisons costing too much. So much, in fact, that people from other countries comes to Denmark to get caught doing a crime. Or homeless people walk into a bank and use the "Pointy finger in pocket" tactic to go to jail through the winter.

We do, however, do a very good job at getting people into the "right" prison. We put hardened criminals into jails with other hardened criminals, which has many restrictions on your daily life, while keeping teenagers who just fucked up big time in prisons that are much less violent, and also keep the restrictions to a minimum. We even allow some of them to go out and to work together with normal employees at the end of their sentences.

We let everyone get an education or start an education while inside, too.

It costs a lot while the individuals are "locked up" but I'm very certain that it's doing a good job, at least compared to other systems, such as the US one.

We do fuck up, though, putting hardened criminals into low security prisons, which lets them escape. I also don't like having people coming from other countries come to Denmark to take an education in a Danish jail, paid for by my tax money. But I think that is the lesser of the two evils.