The punishment should fit the crime.

That's why Reggie Townsend ended up at the New Lisbon Correctional Institution in central Wisconsin. Convicted in the shooting death of an 11-year-old girl, he is serving a 23-year sentence for first-degree reckless homicide.

That's why he was briefly confined in a segregated wing while officials questioned those they suspected of staging a riot at the prison four years ago. According to the Wisconsin State Journal, officials at New Lisbon determined Townsend got rid of evidence that may have implicated the rioters. The uprising left more than a dozen prison guards hurt.

Most of all, it's why Townsend doesn't deserve nearly $300,000 in damages for temporarily sleeping on a moldy mattress. The crime - or, in this case, the misjudgment - by the prison guard was nowhere near that severe to warrant such a punishment.

A federal jury last month decided it was, awarding Townsend $295,000 in punitive damages. Jurors reasoned that the guard, Sgt. Jerry Allen, ignored Townsend's constitutional rights and made no effort to replace the mattress despite the inmate's repeated complaints.

The state's Department of Justice tried to bring that down to size on Thursday. Attorneys asked Judge Barbara Crabb to set a new trial or slice the award to $10,000.

That kind of money serves as a harsh enough lesson in both civility and civil rights. As the case stands today, the only ones who'll learn from it are opportunistic inmates inspired to sue for big bucks over minor transgressions.

True, even the most hardened convicts have the right to sanitary living conditions. The prison was pushing its luck simply by placing multiple inmates in a segregation cell designed for one. Partially out of fear of lawsuits, Racine County officials expanded the jail to help stop that practice.

Guards must also be reminded not to take it upon themselves to add extra punishment for inmates beyond what is sanctioned by a court or prison officials.

Still, considering the jury didn't buy that the 59 days on the mattress impacted Townsend's health, is a six-figure slap-down really justified? We're talking about moist bedding.

We could think of many more egregious actions. Shootings and riots come to mind.