First, I think he would applaud John Wetzel, the state corrections secretary, for trying — albeit with limited success so far — to learn from prisons in Germany and Scandinavia. In much of western Europe, the emphasis is on equipping inmates for something other than a life of crime when they return to society. Sentences are shorter, cellblocks often resemble college dorms, and opportunities for self-improvement are plentiful. This is not regarded as pampering but as a public interest.