Much has been said about Bernard Madoff's 150 year prison sentence. The Los Angeles Times points out the obvious: his sentence is a lot shorter than what was handed out to the likes of Denis Kozlowski (8 to 25 years), Bernie Ebbers (25 years) and Jeff Skilling 24 years and 4 months).

Madoff's attorney Lee Sorkin has described the sentence as "absurd". Appearing on the Today, and as reported in the Huffington Post, Sorkin said the sentence did not make sense. "My reaction is the justice system is not based on vengeance and it's not built on symbolism... 150 years is absurd under the guidelines under the sentencing statutes."

Slate says there are good pragmatic and symbolic reasons for the sentence. "In cases where the accumulation of life sentences has no practical effect-for example, in states where life sentences don't include the possibility for parole-courts assign multiple life terms for a few reasons. First, in a case with multiple victims, each family might find solace in knowing the criminal received a specific punishment for each crime. Second, the prosecutor might want multiple sentences on the books in case some were overturned on appeal. Third, the court could use back-to-back sentences to emphasize the crime's severity to the governor or the board of pardons."

So what can Madoff expect now that he will spend what's left of his life behind bars. As the Guardian tells us, he is likely now to be paid anywhere from 12 cents to 40 cents an hour for such jobs as food service, cleaning, filing, factory work, teaching or, if he is lucky, shifts in the prison library. And he will probably be sent to a medium to high security prison and get a hard time from other prisoners wanting to make a name for themselves. "If they see an opportunity to take that man out and be in the paper and make a name for themselves, what do they have to lose," one prison consultant told Bloomberg.