Harsh sentences and severe punishment are customary. In Taiwan, as elsewhere in the world, prisons have historically been dark, dank and dirty places, with poor food, unsanitary conditions, and inmates forced to do hard labor under stern, sometimes cruel supervision. Unable to bear these hardships and the regimen of everyday prison "life", many prisoners sicken and die.
其中環境總是陰暗、潮濕、汙穢的，受刑人吃不飽、穿不暖，就是身患重病也得不到醫療照顧，每天還得做苦工，不時要受「牢頭」的鞭斥，多少人受不了這種折磨而致暴斃獄中。