Florida's minimum wage is $12/hour. If you work two jobs, say 60 hrs/week, repaying the state for your time in prison would take half of all the money you make. This is unbelievably evil.

Was it picked as $50/day because that represents some (not even most) of the cost to the State of Florida for incarcerating you for crimes? Did Florida justify this or decide that taxpayers shouldn’t be so heavily burdened by individuals who decide to commit crimes?

I’m not even sure this is simply a “rent” — unlike renting an apartment or a house (shelter), while the prison is also shelter, it also has to be 24x7 staffed with guards (and likely other personnel like a medical clinic). There’s fixed costs like utilities which probably don’t vary much based on population (lighting and heating), and variable costs like food, water and waste management.

It’s certainly a bit crazy to charge someone for 7 years if they only serve 70 days, but I see some logic to charging per day you’re actually incarcerated. It’s not a “rehabilitation friendly” policy due to the effects on your finance after release, but it may be argued it amplifies the deterrent — “if you don’t want to do the time (and pay); don’t do the crime”.