I know this is old-ish news, but Chris Brown reached a plea agreement with prosecutors and received five years probation and 1,400 hours of labor-oriented service. I’ve read some commentators voicing their concern that the punishment isn’t harsh enough, since Brown isn’t actually serving any jail time. I’m of two minds on that one: On the one hand, it is striking that a man who severely beat up a woman didn’t actually have to serve jail time; on the other, we too often use jail as a default punishment, and see anything else — no matter how helpful — as too soft.
More striking to me, though, is the fact that Rihanna was prepared to testify. So much of the commentary immediately following Brown’s arrest revolved around the meme that Rihanna was partly to blame, or that by not leaving him she set a bad example; but now that she took the incredibly brave step of agreeing to testify in court, there’s a whole lot of silence and not much support.
I’m glad Brown pleaded guilty. I’m glad Rihanna left him, and that she felt strong enough to be available to testify. I hope she is able to move on, and that he takes this seriously and commits to the life-long self-work of being non-violent.
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He pled to felony charges, so that’s a bit of stigma that’ll go with him for the rest of his days. I don’t know whether or not that’ll raise his street cred, but I’m thinking probably not.
Rihanna, strong enough? This woman needs anger management counseling. She needs help. Or she will really get hurt one day. Therapy is her friend.
i’ve seen a lot of post-decision commentary that seems to think that accepting this plea was rihanna’s decision in order to avoid testifying either at the preliminary hearing or at trial. (note that this could not possibly be true as criminal cases are prosecuted by the state through the district attorney, and the DA’s office is the only one empowered to make plea deals.) i’ve seen people citing her “decision to accept the plea” as evidence for her unwillingness to testify, her belief that the incident was not a big deal, and that they’re back together.
notable was that the initial judge’s order included a mandatory stay-away order preventing either of them from being within 50 yards of each other, 10 yards at industry events. rihanna’s attorney asked the judge to drop the stay away order and said rihanna didn’t want it. while it’s not clear what motivated that, it does suggest the possibility that she’s considering reuniting with him. (which, if it happens, would be a normal part of the ongoing cycle of abuse, rather than an indication that no abuse occurred or that she’s betraying the cause of domestic violence or setting a bad example, etc).
in my opinion, the fact that he pled to a felony rather than a misdemeanor indicates that he did something pretty serious and thought that a trial would not at all indicate his innocence. it’s disappointing that hasn’t been the focus of the coverage.
an interesting side note is that a felony conviction may affect his voting rights, as both CA and VA have provisions disenfranchising felons to various extents. i haven’t had time to figure out whether rights are governed by the state of conviction (CA) or voting (VA) to determine the extent to which he’s disenfranchised by this plea.
@alphanista um, excuse me? you seem to be blaming the assault on rihanna and her “anger management” issues. which is a) victim-blaming and b) fucking offensive.
there’s been a lot of rumors that rihanna hit him first, that she started the argument, etc. a lot of this is basic victim-blaming, but a lot of it has been colored by the fact that rihanna is a woman of color from the caribbean, with their “hot tempers” and pulling in more than a little racism.
for those who think that rihanna began the physical violence or participated in it to a great extent, you should really read the LAPD affidavit of the event. and check your assumptions about DV victims and women from the caribbean.
I agree about jail time. A sentence that does not involve active jail time is not inappropriate for a person with no criminal record. The whole point of suspended jail time is to see if the person understands the error of their ways and is able to stay out of trouble, make amends as appropriate, and engage in rehabilitation as necessary.
In addition, this particular sentence, according to the linked article DOES include jail time, for which 1400 hours of community service may be substituted. And the judge was clear that it can’t be like “celebrity appearance” community service – it has to be work. And he’s facing 4 years in prison if he doesn’t do the probation without problems. So all in all, it seems to me to be quite a significant sentence, and I do not find it at all hard to believe that it is in keeping with what any non-celebrity would be getting given similar facts in that courtroom.
Seriously, alphanista, what abbyjean said. I’m leaving that comment up because I didn’t see it until now and it’s already been responded to, but future victim-blaming comments will be deleted.
Voting rights are defnitely governed by the state of residence (state in which voting occurs). A felony conviction means that he will never be able to vote in VA, unless he has his rights restored by the governor in a process that is basically the same as requesting clemency. In many/most other states felons who are on an active sentence from a court (incarcerated or on probation) are disqualified from voting, but once they have completed their sentence (including any probation) they are once again eligible to vote. A person who is not eligible to vote in VA because of an old felony conviction can move to MD or DC or CA and register to vote if they meet that state/DC’s requirements.
I hadn’t followed this case. Here’s the “missing link” from abbyjean’s post:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0305093brown1.html
Holy shit, you can get probation for something like this? I can’t believe it. I know a guy who got a year in jail for possession of six Vicodins. I guess everything’s different when you’re rich and famous.
I’d rather he go to some kind of anger management/how to treat women classes for 1400 hours. Sigh. Picking up trash for 1400 hours or whatever does not equal the same thing.
I suspect the “within 10 yards at events” thing might be a pain in the ass for her, career-wise, and that’s why she might have said that.
Jail time is not a good response to most crimes, and it does not help a person who is violent or otherwise abusive in intimate relationships to change their behavior or attitudes. If anything, it reinforces those behaviors and attitudes.
Butch Fatale: Jail time is not a good response to most crimes,
I hear ya, BF, but if jails exist for anything in this horrible world, it’s to forcibly contain the sort of psycho shitheels who spatter the interior of their goddam rental cars with their girlfriend’s blood.
W. Kiernan: Could you please not use “psycho” as a stand-in for someone deliberately committing acts of violence against women.
I hear ya, BF, but if jails exist for anything in this horrible world, it’s to forcibly contain the sort of psycho shitheels who spatter the interior of their goddam rental cars with their girlfriend’s blood.
W. Kiernan: Could you please not use “psycho” as a stand-in for someone deliberately committing acts of violence against women.
Agreeing with those that say jail does nothing to address the problem of actual violence itself; it merely isolates the problem in another claustrophobic setting that will more than likely contribute further to the issue.
and that he takes this seriously and commits to the life-long self-work of being non-violent.
And yes I’m glad to see a more understanding attitude regarding domestic violence. It is lifelong work and it is serious. Locking people in jail and throwing away the key allows us to point fingers and feel better about ourselves without offering up any real solutions. We need more sentences that focus on reforming the person, not slapping a bandage over it.
Alphanista’s remark is totally outrageous and revolting. This is the exact same junk I’ve read in regards to a very similar case in NYC that I blogged extensively about. If I was running this blog and I saw a remark like Alphanista’s I would have deleted it, even if it was already responded to.
Only the abuser — Mr. Brown — is to blame here. Rihanna did nothing wrong. And yet, she was also hit with a restraining order by Judge Schnegg ordering her to stay at least 50 feet away from Mr. Brown. I was angry that Rihanna was being treated like a criminal, even though she was the victim.
OOPS, *feet* should be *yards*.