[justin66]

It's worth noting that the punishment here was pretty over the top even by US standards. In suburban middle America a college girl with no priors who bruises a cop will not ordinarily get charged with a felony. Some cities would even take the charge that she was manhandled by cops seriously and investigate it.

[jeffdavis]

That seems like you're disputing the charge/verdict, not the punishment.

What is the normal punishment for felony assault of a police officer for someone with no priors?

The reason this distinction is important is because disputing the charge/verdict requires getting involved in the case and seeing the prosecution's evidence.

[justin66]

I was actually with you until here:

> The reason this distinction is important is because disputing the charge/verdict requires getting involved in the case and seeing the prosecution's evidence.

I don't agree at all but I also think we've seen enough of the evidence that there's not really much factually to dispute. (We know a lot more than the jury did, which is a very common and very depressing situation but also a separate topic)

Anyhow, felony charges are usually reserved for people who do a lot of damage, on purpose, and who have prior convictions. I agree that there's a distinction to be made between the seriousness of charges and the severity of those charges associated punishment - they're determined by different parts of government, if nothing else - but I don't think as much hangs on it as you seem to, vis a vis the way different places treat crimes more or less severely. Heavy handedness in one area correlates with heavy-handedness in the other, after all.