Dear Brock Turner,
I don’t understand. I will never understand the utter ignorance and insensitivity you and your family have displayed. Yes, your life may be “ruined” but so is your victim’s. You ruined your own life, but she did nothing. Yet, you both reap the same result—a life that will never be the same. I have no sympathy for you. I have no sympathy for your father, your judge, or your other defenders. I’m in complete shock that you and your family would complain about 6 months of jail time. You deserve much, much more. Let’s just be clear here, you did not make a mistake. You made a choice—a terrible, life-destroying choice. You should not even be allowed the privilege of walking the streets with other human beings.
Your father said that your entire life should not be destroyed because of “20 minutes of action” to which I shudder in absolute horror because this is where it starts. If we let negative behavior slide continuously, that negative behavior will only escalate. Your seemingly simple “20 minutes of action” destroyed a life, Mr. Turner, and I’m hoping that someone who is smart enough to attend Stanford can understand that it takes a single second for a life to change dramatically.
I’m not sorry. I’m not sorry that you are not allowed back at Stanford, I am not sorry that your swimming career is over, and I am certainly not sorry that you will probably never make it anywhere in life. If we belittle things such as rape and consider it a “mistake” then our world is headed down a dark path. Alcohol is not to blame. You are to blame and you deserve to pay a price much worse than the one you have been given. I have no sympathy for you, but I’m hopeful. I’m hopeful that people will become more aware of this messed up state in our society. Where rapist serves less time than larcenists, because I guess our material possessions are more important than our mental states these days. I hope your story brings a wakeup call to us all, because while you’re serving 6 months in jail, thousands of abusers are walking free, having never been incarcerated or tried for their actions.
While you're wallowing in self-pity over your dumb “mistake,” I’m sure your victim is trying to pull herself together. But you probably don’t think about that do you? You’re probably more worried about yourself and your own well-being. I understand. There are probably multiple people out to get you. But, nonetheless, you did this to yourself and our actions have consequences. What did she do? Get drunk? Legally? Oh, wow, how sickening. You see, your victim is paying the consequences of your actions. She’s finding the pieces of her life that you shattered. You are paying for what you did and you make it sound so horrible, but Mr. Turner, she is also paying for what you did. There is no explanation for her. In six months, you’ll walk free, and in doing that, you keep her in bondage. She will never be free as long as justice is withheld. I hope you recognize that, and maybe somewhere in that puzzling, sick brain of yours, you’ll think about it and if you do, I hope guilt eats you alive.
