After receiving a 6 month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman at Stanford University, Brock Turner was released on the morning of September 2, 2016 for good behavior. He served half of his sentence totaling in at 3 months. Here are a list of people that are serving longer jail sentences than Brock Turner:
1. Scott Earle
Scott Earle is currently serving a 25 year sentence for agreeing to sell painkillers to an undercover cop at a bar.
2. Telisha Watkins
Telisha Watkins is serving a 20 year sentence for arranging a sale of cocaine to an old neighbor who was a police informant.
3. Timothy Tyler
Timothy Tyler was sentenced to life in prison after distrusting LSD in 1994. (President Obama later granted him clemency and is set to be released in August of 2018 after a mandatory drug rehabilitation program.)
4. Atiba Parker
Atiba Parker is serving a 42 year sentence for selling just under three grams of crack.
5. Celestia Mixon
Celestia Mixon is serving her 15 year sentence for conspiracy to distribute meth and possession of a firearm.
6. John Horner
John Horner is serving 25 years in prison for selling painkillers to a friend who was a police informant.
7. Paul Fields
Paul Fields, pictured with his family, is spending 15 1/2 years in federal prison for one count of growing marijuana.
8. Michael Giles
Michael Giles, a veteran, is spending 25 years in prison for firing two shots in self defense that did not injure his attacker.
This article was written not only to highlight the brevity of Brock Turner's time in prison and the audacity of it, but to also point out the obvious inconsistencies in our justice system. The judge who sentenced Turner cited the "extraordinary circumstances" to explain the short sentence. These circumstances included his young age and the fact that his record prior to the crime was clean. Since then, politicians from California have passed a tougher sexual assault law and his judge removed himself from hearing criminal cases due to the backlash. However, Brock Turner, now a registered sex offender, is returning home to Ohio with his parents having spent less time in prison than Martha Stewart.
As for the cases listed above, many of them are featured by FAMM, or Families Against Mandatory Minimum. The organization works to reform mandatory minimum sentencing for nonviolent drug crimes, which can be to blame for many of the seemingly ridiculous sentences used as examples here. These inconsistencies are why a man convicted of sexual assault will have spent 24 years and nine months less in prison than a man caught selling painkillers to a friend.
