Murder. A serious crime, anywhere. But this American who makes his home is Paris was puzzled by sentencing in two recent cases that drew lots of coverage in France.

In the United States, criminal law is generally a matter of state law, although there is federal criminal law as well. So there are many laws on homicide and sentences in the United States: 1 for each of the 50 states, plus 1 for federal law, making 51 laws in all. What they share are:

  • A tiered system, with intentional homicides being punished more severely than others. This feature is widely known and often featured on television programs and in films.
  • Long prison sentences. Life sentences are common. In California, for example, second-degree homicide is punishable for a term of 15 years to life, and first-degree homicide for a term of 25 years to life; recidivists are granted longer sentences. Throughout the United States, those convicted often receive consecutive sentences, where the term for multiple acts equals the sum of all the acts for which the defendant has been convicted.

Americans are accustomed to long prison terms.

Two cases decided last week brought into contrast these American expectations and European practice.

In the first case, a Geneva court found Cécile Brossard guilty of murdering her lover, Edouard Stern. Brossard had shot Stern four times in the head in the course of an argument.

The case was sensational because Stern was a wealthy financier and because the homicide occurred during a sex game, when Stern wore an elaborate latex costume.

The Swiss court sentenced Brossard to a prison term of 8 1/2 years. Brossard has already spent 4 years in pretrial detention and can be paroled next year.

In the second case, a French court found Véronique Courjault guilty of murdering three infant children.

The facts of the case are especially macabre. A few years ago, the Courjaults lived in Korea. Véronique's husband Jean-Louis discovered two babies in the family's freezer. Everyone was shocked and puzzled, and the Courjaults returned to France. Shock and puzzlement intensified when DNA tests indicated that the frozen babies were the Courjaults'. Veronique and Jean-Louis Courjault seem normal, and the couple has two sons who are now teenagers.

What had happened? Véronique Courjault reportedly suffered from pregnancy denial, a condition (that is not exceptionally rare, but known and studied) that leads an expecting woman to dissimulate a pregnancy, including from herself. In this case, Véronique Courjault had killed and frozen children she bore in 2002 and 2003. Subsequent investigations turned up another child, born in 1999, whom Courjault had incinerated and buried in the garden. (Jean-Louis Courjault maintained his ignorance of such things, and has not been charged with any crime.)

A French court found Véroniqiue Courjault guilty of murder and sentenced her to an eight-year prison term. She has already served three years in pretrial detention. She is eligible for parole in a year, which reportedly brought smiles to her family.

As an American observer, two aspects of these cases leave me perplexed: the comparative brevity of the overall sentence, and the long periods spent incarcerated before trial (or conviction).