I want to take a moment to address the atrocious failure of the justice system in the rape trial of Brock Allen Turner. For those of you who do not know Turner was convicted of three felonies: Assault with the intent to commit rape, sexual penetration of an intoxicated person, and sexual penetration of an unconscious person.
These felonies were committed January 18th 2015, after a frat party, where Turner mounted and raped an intoxicated 22-year-old woman. Witnesses said, Turner, who was 19 at the time, was seen “on top of the unconscious woman, her underwear and cell phone strewn beside her.” In addition to this damning evidence, the victim’s DNA was found on Turner, and Turner’s semen was found inside the victim.
Turner was on the Stanford swim team and had a promising future in swimming. This, in addition to no prior criminal record led the Judge Aaron Persky (a graduate of Stanford), to sentence Turner to six months in county jail. Perksy’s reasoning was, with no prior criminal conviction, a harsher sentence would cause too much damage to Turner’s future. Turner “future” is one as a swimmer who could be an Olympic participant, but frankly no person convicted of rape should be considered for the Olympics, any decision otherwise is reprehensible.
To put the absolute absurdity of this sentencing into perspective, this trial has been going on for a year. The victim has been dealing with the Turner family using their affluence to try and cling to any false ray of exoneration, on top of trauma she is coping with as a victim of rape. And after the trial that took a year of the victim’s life, Brock Turner will only serve six months in county jail. A rape charge typically receives a sentence of anywhere from three to eight years in prison with added time on parole. This is undoubtedly a failure of the justice system.
So now that there is a basic understanding of the case and information about some of the key players, let me get to the bulk of the situation. I think initially it’s important to highlight how much is messed up in what happened in this case.
First, a 19-year-old male felt it was within his right to rape a woman. That in-itself is atrocious and despicable; there is nothing I can say that can explain how disgusting what Turner did to that woman was, but here I have hyperlinked the letter that the victim read aloud to Turner. In summary, she recounts the rape, the trial, the effect he had on her life, and the callous lack of regret and sympathy showed by Turner. The victim recounts the making of every college woman’s worst nightmare.
Second, lets talk about Judge Aaron Persky. Persky decided against the suggestion of the prosecutor to give Turner a very lenient sentence. This is truly baffling, and a total miscarriage of justice. BUT there is hope for this specific wrong to be righted, June 7th, 2016, Persky is up for reelection in California, and if you are a registered voter in California I STRONGLY encourage you to consider voting against him. On Tuesday, there is a very real possibility to have Persky recalled, and I hope that occurs. Here I have hyperlinked Santa Clara County’s Candidate Information so anyone can research other options.
And here I have hyperlinked Santa Clara County’s general voting information including registration, how to look up your district, where your designated voting location is, and how to register online. No matter what your political preference, this is one issue where you can make the justice system more just.
Also for those of you who are not members of Santa Clara County I have provided links to two petitions asking for Persky’s removal:
And finally, here I have hyperlinked Persky’s Everipedia page in case anyone wanted to learn more about him.
But before we pretend Persky is the only issue within the justice system it is important to note this is just very minor glimpse into a HUGE issue in the world of aspiring professional and professional athletes.
It seems that within the judicial system after an individual attains a level of skill of affluence he or she becomes immune from the typical consequences that accompany assaulting an individual.
Do you remember the Steubenville High School Rape Scandal? How about the Vanderbilt Rape Scandal? These are recent examples of sexual assaults by athletes towards women who were “black out” drunk.
Does this mean that all athletes rape? NO, of course not, and there is no evidence to suggest that, but it does mean that perpetrators must be held accountable for their actions no matter what their athletic future might hold. Justice for the victim always trumps the aspirations of a rapist.
This issue is not unique to just athletes. Sexual assault on college campuses is an epidemic. The dirty secret admissions counselors don’t tell you is one in four women are sexually assaulted on a college campus. For anyone who has been a victim of sexual violence they know first hand the psychological impact this has.
So for a moment take a step back from the swine that is Brock Turner; remember the total miscarriage of justice in his case. Go help remove Judge Aaron Persky and after that, take a moment to reflect.
If sexual assault on college campuses is something that is so aggravating and morally wrong why doesn’t it change? Why is that every year there is always a huge rape case in the news? Why are victims blamed and accused when witnesses are present and the evidence is damning? And why is the future of a rapist’s career more important than a victim’s justice?
We, as a society need to reflect on our values and ask ourselves why we continue to ignore the sexual assault epidemic plaguing our campuses.
