Was the Sentencing For The Steubenville Rapists Appropriate or Just a Bad Joke?

Now that the Steubenville Ohio Rapists have been found guilty of raping a 16-year-old girl and given three years of juvenile jail between the two of them, many people are questioning the severity of the sentencing. One of the rapists who took photos and sent them out on social media received 2 years minimum instead of just 1 with a maximum of 4. The photographer rapist was given the extra year for a child porn charge due to the photos. Basically the judge is saying to high school kids that raping underaged colleagues the same thing as posting drunk photos of them online.

The problem with this sentencing is because the case is headline news it's going to set an example for other high school students out there especially the football players in towns who love sports. This type of drunk rape happens all the time and now that kids have seen two guys get off with 3 years combined in juvenile detention it's going to be even more attractive to them. If you put the Steubenville Rapists in adult prison for 20 years that would probably make the next high school rapist think more than twice, but 1 year in juvenile jail, MAYBE? And how do you think this girl feels that the value of her body being sexually assaulted is worth a collective 3 years minimum in a kid's prison?

Putting trials like this on the headlines makes a big difference because it puts emphasis on all the methods of evidence that were being used against the defendants. Now kids are fully aware of what they have to hide when they rape someone because their texts and calls are being tracked. This trial has made kids more aware of the steps to take to never get caught, but because the penalty is not serious they know even if they do get caught people won't take it seriously. The Steubenville verdict had a chance to be something that could resonate to all parts of the country for kids when it comes to the issue of party rape, but instead it made a joke of it. Perhaps the next high school rapists will be more severely punished, but what if those rapists would have never done it to begin with if they had seen the Steubenville rapers get harsher penalties?

The only reason people aren't allowed to make rape jokes in today's society is because of how much of a joke the sentencing for the crime actually is. People can make murder jokes all they want because if you get caught killing someone your ass is going to prison for a long time whether you're a high school student or an adult. No one thinks actually murdering someone is a joke, but we're at least able to laugh about it because the punishment is severe and it's taken seriously where it needs to be taken seriously in court. It's judges like Thomas Lipps in Stupidville, Ohio that are setting irresponsible precedents and treating actual rape like a joke. So any type of backlash ever sent toward comedians and folks who make stupid off-color remarks about rape should be received a thousand times stronger by people like this judge because people like him are the ones telling the real rape jokes.