The Brock Allen Turner case might just be the wake-up call the nation needs concerning sexual assault. It is vilifying how someone can get a slap on the wrist for something so criminal. This young man was charged with three felony counts. In the state of California felonies include: murder, rape, burglary, arson, and robbery. Sexual assault laws vary by state. In California, they are tricky because they are considered "wobblers", where they can be considered a misdemeanor or a felony depending on the severity. California Penal Code Section 243.4 explains all the explicit details concerning the sexual assault charges. With good behavior, Turner could be out in weeks.
Judge Aaron Persky, who is up for reelection this year, deemed it appropriate, to only give Turner six months in prison after 12 jurors unanimously voted him guilty, even after his father (now infamously) wrote in a letter, "he barely consumes any food and eats only to exist. That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20 plus years of life.” That's an interesting point of view, Dan Turner. Would you still feel that way if your son had been sexually assaulted? Or say, murdered for that matter? A simple gunshot only takes milliseconds. Would you still stand by your statement?
There is NO price to pay for taking away a women's safety. There is no price to pay for stopping a woman's life for a year so she can go to trial for an evening of hanging out with her sister. She did nothing wrong. She went to a party with her sister.
Because of the uproar this sentencing has caused, the nation has been speaking out in disbelief and disgust across every platform you can think of: Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Odyssey, etc. The outrage from men and women, young and old is astounding. The conversation occurring is the same: this was the wrong call; this boy is scum and deserves to be in jail for much longer. Everyone is agreeing that this is sending the complete wrong message about and completely validates today's rape culture. People are sharing their own experiences with their own sexual assault traumas and how it has affected them since. Maybe this case will be the one that opens the worlds eyes to what women are dealing with when it comes to sexual assault.
