There is no perfect system, and even if all prisoners should be given a chance to clean up their act inside, that doesn’t mean that they should be released. Life should mean life. Forever. In some inhospitable hole of a prison without creature comforts. If they behave then they can get better conditions, but their sentence is as much to punish as to re-habilitate, and for some this means the rest of their natural lives in jail.

Spot on.
I am increasingly disgusted by all these criminals that have taken the life of others, be it by design or by incompetence (bad driving, accidental shooting, etc) and walk away with a couple of years in a hotel. Yes, hotel, as that is what our prisons are now!

Punishment must fit the crime.