On July 4th, around 1:30 in the morning, police were called to the apartment of a couple in Gastonia, North Carolina who were engaged in a heated fight. Neighbors were frightened that the dispute might turn violent, and, when police arrived, they saw that it had indeed. The two were assaulting each other with a violent weapon–pizza rolls.
For those who are unfamiliar with what a pizza roll may be, it is a small, microwavable, pastry-like snack food that is filled with tomato sauce, cheese and potentially other traditional pizza toppings. Several could fit in one’s palm, and, while they do get hot after being cooked, they are certainly not big enough, hot enough or dangerous enough to seriously wound someone.
However, the story continues–Brad Scott Beard could get up to 60 days in jail, and Samantha Brooke Canipe could get up to 30 on a charge each of misdemeanor simple assault. At first glance, this sentencing seemed comically extreme; it was comical that their fight culminated in throwing pizza rolls, extreme that they got arrested (and likely will receive jail time) for throwing food, something every elementary-age child engages in, and comically extreme in every aspect. It is late on the night of Fourth of July, and the cops are arresting two people in a food fight occurring in their own apartment? Isn’t there a drunk driver somewhere to be apprehended?
Naturally, I looked up simple misdemeanor assault, and I learned that, in many states, the sentencing is anywhere from six months to a year, with much wiggle room based on circumstances. This couple would not receive that much time, but, technically, they could.
So then another thought came into my mind, one that made me see how truly not funny this situation actually is–Brock Turner, the Stanford student convicted of rape at the beginning of June, received only six months jail time and a promise to be released early (the given time was roughly three months into the sentence) for the “expected” good behavior. One can reasonable say that Turner will serve anywhere from three months to six for raping and assaulting a non-responsive woman behind a dumpster.
And Beard, the male arrested on the fourth, is going to serve 60 for lobbing snack foods at his girlfriend?
The inconsistency in sentencing here boggles my mind. While I obviously do not want to make any kind of assault seem acceptable, I would rather be targeted with pizza rolls than raped any day. In no way can I justify to myself having essentially the same punishment for the two. In fact, although it did not play out in this case, if Turner got out early and a larger sentence was given for the assault, rape would have a less harsh penalty than throwing pizza rolls at each other. Rape, a one-sided abuse that is violent, demeaning and leaves life-long marks upon the victim, would have been punished less severely than a couple tossing inch-long junk food at each other across their own apartment.
There has been much outrage over Turner’s sentencing, and this example helps put in perspective just how insignificant his jail time really is. His sentencing was less than one might receive for throwing food at one’s partner. And while it is arguable that Turner’s life is still ruined, and he will always be a registered sex offender, the lack of concrete punishment has a huge impact on any other victims who might have been considering speaking up against their assaulters. Please, America, help create some consistency in your judicial punishments. Give the unforgivable sins unforgettable punishments, and give the little mess-ups small taps on the wrist. It is not justice to punish a pizza roll fight and a brutal sexual assault in the same way.
