The jail where every prisoner gets a flat-screen TV and private shower

In Norway's Halden prison, murderers, rapists, and pedophiles live in relative luxury, and the results are impressive. Would the U.S. ever pamper inmates this way?

Al Capone
(Image credit: William Manning/Corbis)

Anyone who's been to a U.S. prison, or even seen one on TV, might be surprised by Norway's Halden maximum-security penitentiary. Opened in 2010 at a cost of about $280 million, the flagship of Norway's criminal justice system has won multiple awards for its minimalist modern design. If not for its tall, insurmountable concrete wall — tastefully hidden behind a mossy green birch forest — you might mistake it for a "Scandinavian boutique hotel," says Amelia Gentleman at Britain's The Guardian. Every murderer, rapist, and pedophile has his own room with a flat-screen TV, private shower and toilet, fridge, fluffy white towels, and a view of mountainous scenery through large, bar-free windows. The cost of maintaining prisoners at Halden costs about $500 per inmate per night. What are the Norwegians thinking? And does their remarkably "humane" prison system actually work?

Just how luxurious is this prison?

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