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They keep the bright lights on until midnight, and turn them back on at 4am (and require the inmates to get up).

It's one of several measures to keep the inmates docile. See also: feeding them low-quality food, and only enough for survival.

A hungry, sleep-deprived prisoner isn't going to revolt, and after release may think twice about going back.

Just because torture might work as a deterrent is absolutely no excuse.

Sleep deprivation and malnourishment are forms of torture, and constitute human rights violations.

It's supposed to be a correctional system. How are we supposed to reduce recidivism when the system is designed to destroy lives?