Watch: Maggots falling from the ceiling in US prison.

*The cruelty is the point, I guess.

The mother of an inmate at Fountain Correctional Facility in Alabama sent me a video her son took in his cell. Fountain is a state prison in Atmore for medium-custody prisoners.

“Maggots are falling out of the ceiling at the Alabama Department of Corrections,” he says. “These are the conditions, the harsh conditions… it’s not about rehabilitating, it’s about living in miserable conditions,” he adds. “As you see, there are still maggots falling on the bed, at the Alabama Dept. of Corrections.”

I get that crime is bad, but should punishment be a Biblical curse? Probably not! Norway has prisons that treat inmates with dignity and that don’t have maggots falling from the sky. The thing is, making prison as horrid as possible? It doesn’t help with deterrence. Research has shown, again and again, that the perceived likelihood of getting caught outweighs all other considerations, such as, for example, having to sleep while maggots fall on you.

That’s because losing your freedom for however long is punishment enough.

In related news, ghoul Ron DeSantis, who’s hired Hannibal Lector to help him appeal to suburban moms and other moderate voters, just signed a law that lowers the death penalty threshold to 8-4 jurors who vote yes, making Florida now the state with the easiest way to kill people. The statute, apparently, was prompted by outrage that the Parkland shooter got life without parole instead of the death penalty. Apparently, a lone holdout female juror had qualms about executing a clearly mentally ill person. Can’t have that!

DeSantis is allegedly smart. “Trump with a mute button,” we’re told. OK who’s got the remote? Because in the past week, he’s smirkingly suggested building a prison next to Disney World in his epic fight against the beloved, legendary theme park. There’s footage online of him just walking past his stunning wife like she’s a low level intern’s assistant (God help her, her job now is to humanize him. I hope she goes the Melania route where she just glares at him with primal rage and hate).

And now this. Regardless of their political position on the issue, the death penalty makes normal people at least a little quesy. It just doesn’t sit right. Especially now that states are literally talking about bringing back firing squads because no European country and no US pharmacist will produce death penalty drugs.

So what is the point of this? Fine, being more cruel than Trump might get you in that primary, but it’s not going to take you all the way.