This is what probably will happen in the southern states if capital punishment is found to be unconstitutional again.
The people in power in the south believe that prison time never rehabilitates, and prison's sole purpose is to punish.
If the death penalty option is taken away, they'll try to make prison life as difficult as possible for people convicted of capital murder.
This isn't people in the south who believe this, it's most people across the US who are involved in the non-defense side of the CJ system. And they believe it doesn't rehabilitate because it's a fact that it doesn't, the only fault we can find with them is that they believe it shouldn't.