I'm not inclined to believe things prisoners say about their conditions.
I am. There's evidence that things are far worse than we complacently imagine. For example, a year or so ago there was a shocking multipart series on NPR about what's going on inside California's prisons. Mostly we just don't want to know.
It reminds me of the attitudes in http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1999171 This is a system that a very small portion of our (middle/upper class) population is going to experience. With the chances of interacting with it being that low we ignore the problem and run a numbers game that our lives won't be unduly affected by it (akin to not being too worried about being killed by a falling satellite). So the situation deteriorates because people are under the impression that if you are in prison you deserve it and ignore the damage it causes to some individuals/families who under different circumstances would have been our neighbors or friends.
The piece I remember most (not sure if this is the one) was where the reporter got caught in the middle of a lockdown in a crowded San Quentin gym (former gym, now dormitory because of overcrowding). When the alarms go off, everyone has to get on their hands and knees or the guards shoot them on sight. The reporter was told to keep standing during the whole episode, and everyone in the gym was staring at her. Unbelievable moment. I thought it was in this story but the transcript doesn't contain it. Perhaps it doesn't cover the whole audio or perhaps there are more pieces in the series.
I am. There's evidence that things are far worse than we complacently imagine. For example, a year or so ago there was a shocking multipart series on NPR about what's going on inside California's prisons. Mostly we just don't want to know.