Rusty, many times I get to thinking the same as you but when I take a step back to look at the big picture I put the blame (poor word choice) on our larger population. The percentage of dummies (a polite word choice) is probably the same as before (and to be optimistic, maybe even a little less) but the overall number has increased with skyrocketing population.
My initial thoughts on the sentence was the same as yours, but I was not the judge with a real person standing in front of me, nor have I read the investigation reports on her. I'm going to trust the judge used his wisdom but I'm going to hope her community service involves really getting her hands and clothes dirty.
I know a place in Yosemite she can go clean up.