Florida adopted sentencing guidelines in 1983. The pre-1988 guidelines reduce sentencing disparities based on jurisdiction and race. The guidelines are somewhat more lenient on property offenders, especially burglars, and more harsh with violent offenders than pre-guidelines sentences. The guidelines did not hold the prison population growth in check. Population growth and drug-related criminality assures Florida a booming population in felons arrested, prosecuted, convicted, and imprisoned. In the face of rapidly escalating prison admissions and wholesale early release of inmates, sentencing guidelines have come under attack as contributing to the problem; yet they are being preserved as one means of controlling the "front door" of the prison system. The guidelines amendments of 1988 have widened permitted sentencing ranges and removed habitual and violent felony offender sentencing from guidelines coverage. Although the impact of these amendments has not yet been felt, imprisonment and sentencing disparity are likely to increase. The lesson to be learned from Florida's experience is that sentencing guidelines will not solve problems rooted in ambiguous philosophies of punishment or failure to address fundamental issues of goals, resources, and escalating crime. 44 footnotes.