DataB4 wrote:
Norway's system is truly amazing. By comparison, the U.S. has largely given up on its prisoners.

Our prison system is a well known failure, so I'm sure we could learn from Norway's system. It actually makes sense for this island to be the final step before being released, as the article says. If they plan to release prisoners, it's only logical to make sure they can handle the freedoms and responsibilities of island life.
This issues are interessting to reflect over. It can't be easy if let's say someone you loved was brutally murdered, and then knowing that you might risk running into the person that did this, on the streets in a ten years time. It must feel unfair that the murderer get a second chance, something the victim can't.
Although the longest prison sentence you can get here is 21 years, there is another possibility that makes sure really dangerous people aren't set free. You can get another kind of verdict that makes it up to proffessionals to assess after so and so years if it is safe to let the person out in society again. For example I doubt Anders Behring Breivik will be set free anytime soon.
I don't think death penalty is a good thing, because that means the state act on the same level as the criminal. It's ok for the state to murder. Besides the fact that we know sometimes innocent people get convicted is another reason it should not be allowed. This is of course easy for me to say, who hasn't lost any loved ones to vicious crimes.