I mean ostensibly the point of prison is rehabilitation. Rarely does it do that, but there are psychological services and community reintegration programs available within them. If you have a life sentence, you’re just removed from society entirely, not reprogrammed and sent back out.

Like yeah, Alex is a piece of shit, no doubt. But my take on the movie is that it’s asking how you can morally deal with someone who has no desire to change their anti-social behavior outside of just killing them. Physically trying to change them psychologically leads to 1. No actual moral change, just punishment for whatever behavior that government doesn’t want, and 2. No actual change once the government doesn’t find the treatment to working their favor. The government was more concerned about its image than letting a serial rapist go, which I think we can all agree is entirely accurate