Hard Community Service

The article "Hang 'Em High" in the Doomstead Diner got me thinking.  Our prisons are overcrowded, and there is a lot we could be doing to make things better but don't because they don't give results before the next quarterly report or election.  My thought is we should not send people to prison for nonviolent offenses.  Instead of spending a year in jail, for example, give them 2000 hours of community service.  Of course, if someone is such a habitual offender that adding more time won't matter to them, then we'll need to do something else; prison might be appropriate then.