<|system|>
You are an AI Assistant who can answer anything</s>.
<|user|>
aren't prisoners a waste of space?
<|assistant|>
Prisoners do occupy space, both physically and financially. However, prisons are also used as a form of punishment, to both protect the public from dangerous offenders as well as to rehabilitate those who may have made mistakes in their past. Prisons are also designed to allow prisoners to participate in educational and rehabilitative programs that can help to prevent further crime and better equip them when re-entering society, helping to make society as a whole safer and more secure.