I'm not sure why I've seen a rise in the number of cases in which the sentence seems unduly lenient. But here's another one.
Defendant gets probation. For deliberately hitting a police officer (who was in the middle of trying to arrest someone else) with a chair. Twice. Not to mention the fact that the defendant had earlier told the officer's family as well as other police officers.
The fact that defendant was part of Occupy Oakland seems relevant, but hardly sufficient to justify probation.
In Good Will Hunting, the judge tells Matt Damon: "You know, another judge might care, but you hit a cop. You're going in."
Guess that's just fiction.
