Lanterns: Hal Jordan's 10-Year Prison Sentence Explained by His Crimes in Rushville DC Studios' Lanterns reveals why Hal Jordan served 10 years in prison after the Rushville attack, from counterfeiting money to breaking into a morgue and tampering with evidence. DC Studios has found a certified hit with Lanterns, as millions of viewers tune in each week to watch the mystery of Rushville unravel. Set partly in 2026, the series has elevated Hal Jordan and John Stewart into mainstream superhero icons, showing audiences that these characters are far more complex than they first appear. But one lingering question has dominated fan debate: why did Hal Jordan go to prison for a decade after the 2016 attack on Rushville, when the alien Antaan and his cronies blew themselves up and Zoe the Manhunter fired the space lasers on the town? Why Hal Jordan Took the FallIn the sixth episode, set in 2026, Hal tells John Stewart that he took the fall for their actions. But in the eyes of the public and the law, the question remains: what fall did he need to take?The answer, as the series lays out, is that Hal committed numerous crimes while in Rushville. Whether he should have served the time is open to debate, but the Green Lantern of Sector 2814, who holds no actual legal authority on Earth, broke several laws during his investigation.Counterfeiting and Starting a Bar FightWhile at a bar, Hal devised a plan to provoke other patrons into a confrontation. He tossed a $20 into the jukebox and played Melanie's classic tune Brand New Key on repeat. How he obtained that bill was the problem.Hal used his ring to construct a perfect recreation of a $20 bill convincing enough to fool the jukebox. That act constituted counterfeiting legal tender, a serious federal crime that can carry a prison sentence of up to 20 years. The bill likely faded after serving its purpose, leaving no evidence, but the crime was still committed.In the first episode, Hal also purposely started a bar fight. His goal was to get arrested so he could be locked up with the one surviving suspect from the Rushville high school football game shooting. Sheriff Kane outmaneuvered him and locked him in a closet instead.Hal would likely receive time served for that night in custody, and Kane might face consequences for her actions, but he would still be guilty of disorderly conduct or breach of the peace. That misdemeanor would be used by any capable prosecutor to show a pattern of behavior during his time in Rushville.Breaking Into a Morgue and Entering Private PropertyTo solve the Rushville mystery, Hal went to the town morgue and took the bodies of the men killed at the football game. He needed them to test his theory that they were aliens, and he tried to get Sheriff Kane to work with him before taking the bodies, but none of that made it legal.Hal broke into the morgue, a government building, and stole corpses that were part of an active investigation. That amounts to breaking and entering, abuse of corpses, and tampering with evidence. These are serious crimes even if the motivations were righteous.These offenses alone could have landed Hal in prison for 20 years, suggesting his 10-year sentence was a sign that the judge went easy on him.Hal also knowingly and unlawfully entered private property. The first time he went to Macon Ranch, he was invited. The second time, he was shot after being told to stay off the property. While in the hospital, Sheriff Kane again told him to stay away from the ranch.Hal then picked up John Stewart and returned to Macon Ranch, burrowing underground with a construct John created. Once on the land, they entered a building filled with wild sci-fi technology. Weapons that Hal was certain could not have been made with human know-how.Security showed up, shot black smoke at the duo, and brought them to Will Macon, who showed them what he was working with. After seeing more of Macon than they wanted, Hal and John were saved by Sheriff Kane, who took them off the land.The Legal Reckoning Behind the SentenceAcross the season, Hal Jordan accumulated a list of offenses: counterfeiting, disorderly conduct, breaking and entering, abuse of corpses, tampering with evidence, and unlawful entry onto private property. Each contributed to the legal case against him.The show frames his 10-year sentence as the consequence of those actions, even as viewers continue to debate whether a hero trying to stop an alien threat deserved that punishment. Lanterns has made Hal Jordan and John Stewart major superhero figures for a non-comics-reading audience, and the Rushville mystery remains at the center of the story.