In the case of Brock Turner, many of the issues America has with its judicial system has come to light on the national stage. What America has a hard time with in dealing with this case is the typical rich white boy committing a terrible crime, yet getting an extremely soft sentence for it. Brock Turner was caught by two men having sex with a girl who seemed to be unconscious outside of a frat house at Stanford University. When caught by the two gentlemen, Mr. Turner began to take off but was held to the ground by one of the guys until the police showed up. The victim of the rape is a 23-year-old woman who still has yet to be identified. On her side of the story, she has no recollection of what actually happened that night due to drinking too much, but she was informed by people who were witnesses to the rape. Nonetheless, when the victim regained her consciousness she did not remember consenting to the crimes, and she was haunted later on by nightmares of the rape and her rapist. Despite Brock Turner being convicted by a unanimous jury, the judge of the Santa Clara Superior Court, Aaron Persky, wasn't moved and only sentenced Brock Turner to six months in county jail and three years of probation. If Brock can get his act together he could be released in three months on good behavior. As many people could already guess, Aaron Persky is under high scrutiny, many people are calling for a more harsh sentence for Brock Turner, and the victim is very well going through the same pain she felt the day after she found out she had been raped.
Even after the victim wrote a statement of over seven thousand words, it's still hard to wrap my brain around the thought process of judge Aaron Persky, and the light sentencing of Brock Turner. This outcome is something that world has been dealing way before I was ever born. In today's time and pretty much since the beginning, women have gotten the shorter end of justice when they have been raped or sexually harassed. In this case, Brock Turner's sentencing was so light because, he's a white college student, an arguably Olympic caliber collegiate swimmer, and he still looks like a teenager going through puberty in the face. Also, it isn't a coincidence that judge Aaron Persky would have sympathy for Brock Turner, especially since judge Persky graduated from Stanford.
In similar cases, in the past certain suspects were not as lucky and fortunate as Mr. Turner. Brian Banks a promising high school linebacker was falsely accused by a female he was dating of raping her. Banks was standing well over six feet and weighing about 220 pounds. His lawyer at the time knew it would be hard for Banks to win the case, so he gave Banks the choice to fight the case and face 41 years in jail or to just settle with five years, even after the female's story was constantly changing. Banks plead no contest, spent five years in jail, registered as a sex offender, and was even electronically monitored by a bracelet. Surprisingly, the alleged victim finally stepped forward and admitted she had lied. If Brian Banks was in the same shoes as Brock Turner, this case wouldn't have even gone this far. Brock Turner does not have to be electronically monitored nor was he forced to take a plea deal. Even with the evidence stacked in the victim's favor, Brock Turner still ended up with the better end of the case and another woman has to face the fact that her rapist is still a free man.
