Incarceration Around the World

In one wing of Sweden's top-security prison, red drapes hang from the ceiling while small candles burn on an altar and men kneel in prayer; prisoners can apply to spend some of their sentence in religious meditation. Meanwhile, the guards at Jyderup State Prison in Denmark don't wear uniforms, and they don't carry guns. Prisons in the Congo, on the other hand, are so bad that, according to the New York Times, "If there is a worse place on earth than a Congolese prison, stay well away." Inca...