Prisoner Overcrowding in Florida

Time Magazine

These days, judges are handing out prison time like it's candy.  I have personal knowledge of one case in which a person was convicted of kidnapping his girlfriend and then sentenced to life in prison even though the victim told the judge that she only wanted her boyfriend to be sentenced to ten years in prison.  A few weeks ago in Stuart, Florida, a man in his early twenties was sentenced to fifty years in prison for burglarizing his girlfriend's home and hitting her in the process.  Why do I, as a Florida taxpayer, have to support such men for the rest of their lives when they should be out working and supporting themselves?  Neither of the two men mentioned above committed a crime deserving of such harsh sentences, and undoubtedly Florida's prisons contain many other such examples of men who are spending far more time in prison than they deserve for the crimes they committed.  While it's certainly proper to punish wrongdoers, let's bring some rationality to the table when doling out such punishment.