Well the Chris Brown/Rihanna criminal matter is almost over, for the most part. Brown is being sentenced today, and it’s expected he’ll be doing something between community service and hard labor, known as community labor, and it’ll be about six months long. Basically it means he’ll do something along the lines of scrubbing graffiti or picking up trash. A little harder than ladling soup at a shelter, but not quite as tough as dragging giant boulders from one place to another or whatever hard labor is these days.

Chris Brown has pleaded guilty and publicly apologized for beating Rihanna, but after Wednesday afternoon, plenty more hard work lies ahead.

The 20-year-old R&B singer is scheduled to be sentenced to five years of probation and six months of community labor. A judge has said she wants Brown, who will likely be allowed to serve his probation in his home state of Virginia, to do work that is comparable to graffiti removal or roadside cleanup.

The “Run It!” singer pleaded guilty in late June to felony assault before a preliminary hearing in which Rihanna was likely to testify.

The former couple never faced each other at that hearing. As Brown left through one door, Rihanna entered the courtroom from a private entrance… Brown said in a public apology video posted on his Web site July 20 that he had repeatedly apologized to Rihanna for the attack. He called his conduct “inexcusable” and pledged to do better.

“I saw firsthand what uncontrolled rage can do,” he tells viewers. “I have sought and am continuing to seek help to ensure that what occurred in February can never happen again.”

Schnegg will consider a report by probation officials and has warned Brown that he will face substantial scrutiny. She told him in June that he’ll have to return to California every three months and attend domestic violence counseling.

[From OMG]

I always found Brown’s statement about seeing “firsthand what uncontrolled rage can do” to be very removed from responsibility. The phrasing makes it sound like he was watching someone else beat the shi*t out of Rihanna. And the thing about seeking help to make sure what happened can never happen again also seems to have an implication of lack of responsibility, like it wasn’t entirely Brown’s choice. Will never happen again is appropriate.

Despite supposedly being broken up, Rihanna is petitioning the court to remove the restraining order protecting her from Brown.

“If asked, we will tell the court that all that’s necessary is a level-one order: That Brown not annoy, molest or harass her,” Rihanna’s lawyer Donald Etra tells PEOPLE. “No stay-away order was ever requested by Rihanna, nor did she ever believe it was necessary.”

[From People]

But if they’re really broken up, what could it hurt? The order required Brown to stay 50 yards away from her and only 10 if they’re at the same event. If Rihanna and Chris are truly over, then why would she want to be closer than 10 yards to him?

The domestic violence classes Chris Brown has to attend are expected to last at least a year. I’m not sure what a better solution would have been in this case. I would have liked to see him serve some real time behind bars, but admittedly that is purely retributive. It wouldn’t teach him how to better handle his emotions. Brown has made a bunch of PR-required “I’m sorry” statements in the last couple months, but he’s also done just as many asshole-ish things that completely negate anything he’s said. Like when he poked fun at the whole thing by getting a $300,000 custom made diamond necklace that says “Oops!” Someone like that will never fundamentally be sorry.

Here’s Chris Brown arriving at LAX with a smug look on his face yesterday. Images thanks to BauerGriffinOnline.