Judge: Head Under Water Or Right Call

What happens when ducks fly upside down. They quack up.
Sorry I shouldn't make a joke about this. The fact that Dumb, Dumber and Dumbest posted a video of themselves committing an illegal crime on UTube where upwards of 85,000 people could view is joke enough.
Thousands and thousands of people are deeply offended by the actions of three stupid duck poachers from Cudworth. Many more feel the Judge was not harsh enough and let them off lightly while many others feel the Judge went way to hard. So to say this is a controversial issue is an understatement.
To review.
The judge levied fines of five thousand dollars against all three men and an extra thousand to the one who fired a gun out the window of a car. Fines could have amounted to much higher, believe it or not going as high as three hundred thousand dollars for each offense. In addition their rifles were taken away (thats a good thing) and their video equipment was also confiscated.
So did the judge get it right? $16,000 in fines is not chicken feed but at the same time was it harsh enough?
If you compare the usual legal (notice I didn't say justice) system it seems pretty harsh. We have seen young offenders walk away with little more than a pat on the back and don't do it again. We have seen murderers, drug dealers and knife wielding thieves back on the street in relatively short time. But the wildlife people and the fish cops apparently take things much more seriously.
Huge fines and jail time are not out of the norm for those who walk on the wrong side of wildlife.
The comparison drawing most attention. Shortly after the three poachers were slapped with their fines, again totally $16,000, a regular wife beater took his turn standing before the same judge. His fine a paltry $350 for beating up his wife?
Now that has raised some eyebrows and if anything good comes out of the duck poachers perhaps the legal system will realize its time to get tough on thugs who commit crimes against innocent people. Are people not more important than ducks?
If the system fails to recognize that perhaps these victims of wife beating will need to dress up in cute little duck costumes when they testify against those who beat and harm them.