Continuously, victims of rape, sexual assault and domestic abuse have watched those who have unwillingly stripped away their rights and violated their bodies’ walk away with a clean legal slate, with little to no punishment. Whether it is the June 2016 rape case against John P. Enochs, a former student at Indiana University, or the case against Brock Turner a former Stanford University swimmer, there is something to be said about the reoccurring rape cases. In diverse circumstances, rapists and attackers have escaped harsh jails sentences with barely a slap on the wrist. Whatever the reason be, white privilege, wealth, adolescence, justice for the immeasurable amount of victims is long overdue. It is time to bring justice to the unjust actions brought against those who have suffered.
Unjust has appeared to be a reoccurring pattern within the legal system of America. There is a bit of skepticism as to why -- one controversial reason being white privilege. When comparing and contrasting various rape cases involving Caucasian perpetrators to similar ones in which involved African American and or Hispanic perpetrators, what can be perceived as immoral sentencing can have the magnitude to speak for itself.
Analyzing the outcome of the Brock Turner case, the powerful role white privilege and adolescence can have in regards to convictions can become apparent. On March 30, 2016, 21-year-old Turner was found guilty of three felonies. Turner was convicted on three felony counts of sexual assault, which include assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object and penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.
On June 2, 2016, Judge Aaron Persky assigned Turner to six months in the Santa Clara County jail followed by three years of probation -- a conviction which pities the 14 maximum sentences he was facing in court. After just about three months in jail, Turner was released.
In a similar sexual assault case filed against 22-year-old Cory Batey an African American football player from Vanderbilt University, Batey was sentenced to 15 years in prison. In April 2016, a jury found Batey guilty of three felony counts, which included aggravated rape, and two counts of aggravated sexual battery. Bateys sentence demands that he serve a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 to 25 years in prison.
The sentence in which Batey is mandated to service is necessary due to the severity of his crimes, which makes the case against Brock turner exasperating for various reasons. When comparing the nearly identically circumstance of both heinous Of Batey and turner, why was Tuner able to escape a well-deserved and harsh sentences any convicted rapist is mandated to serve.
With this puzzling questions marinating in the minds of many Americans other concerning questions also lingers. If the race of the Turner to be different, would the conviction of this case have played out just the same? A number of arguable reasons separating the two cases being that white privilege and white supremacy truly do have a powerful role in the justice system and the conviction of those who break the law.
When analyzing the two similar cases, puzzling thoughts and concerns begin to surface in regards to the legal system in America. Whether it is corruption, privilege, racism or misjudgment in regards to the sentencing, in the similar cases of Turner and Batey, there is evident unjust that has occurred for the victims of these violent and atrocious cases.
Race, adolescence, white privilege and supremacy should not be an intersecting power within the justice system. It has blatantly interfered with the level of justice that is rightfully deserved to immeasurable victims of these heinous rape and assault crimes.
Sadly, unjust has been brought to those that have been raped and assaulted across the nation. The undeserved outcomes of these victims will linger forever, along with the horrific memories of malicious and inhumane acts that have unfortunately been brought against them.
