I really don't think his intention was to discredit amateur science by linking to the search results of "proof that amateur science sucks."
Well, it's sort of complicated.
On one hand—it's probably worth pointing out that the American punitive system is absolutely insane, and the mildness of this should not be taken as evidence of a defective process simply because it doesn't follow suit. Indeed, there are some fairly involved legal and philosophical reasons as to why the punishments aren't more extreme. Here is a paper on it. (I haven't read all of it, but it seems sensible enough from the first few pages.) One of the key points is that a lot of money goes down the toilet on dead ends and genuine errors anyway; another is that scientific misconduct isn't actually illegal, so the power of funding bodies to defend themselves is somewhat limited. In the end, the top priority is still getting them out of science.
as if you could eat worthless paper or base metal.
So that's why you never see a fat rich person...
He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him. -- Bion