The American prison system places more emphasis on protection of the public from murderers than rehabilitation of inmates. This priority is probably justified for death sentences and life sentences without possibility of parole. Delays between death sentence and execution are normally long enough for appeals and repentance. An individual who has repented for taking another person’s life should be willing to accept death as punishment.

I suspect that inmates on death row have tighter security than inmates serving life sentences without possibility of parole. If there is no death penalty available then an inmate has nothing to lose when killing another inmate, guard or breaking out and killing public individuals.