Exactly. The American justice system is obscenely expensive, cruel, corrupt, and not very effective at reforming people to prevent recidivism.

e.g. California's largest employer is the prison system. Ridiculously wasteful and expensive.

Other countries have far more effective rehabilitation and education programs in prisons. For example Japan has mandatory military-like drills and education for inmates to learn discipline and life skills so they have a better chance after they are released.

I'm not a scholar on this topic so I don't have a specific formula. I just know our current system is horribly broken.