The Stanford Rape Case is a prime example as to why the criminal justice system needs to change. After being Sentenced for only 6 months after being convicted of sexually assaulting a 23 year old women outside a fraternity house. After hearing the sentence this outraged the public and myself. Recently news reported that he will be released 3 months earlier than his original sentence because of good behavior. The first thing that came to mind when i heard this was that, that is bullshit! Not only should he have gotten the full sentence for sexually assaulting that women, but to find out that he is getting out 3 months earlier just because he had great behavior is ridiculous. Normally i keep my opinions to myself, but after hearing this, I feel like I need to respond.
My first reaction is to the actual sentence of 6 month itself, why would someone would be convicted for a felony which has a sentencing from 15-25 years, be only sentenced for 6 months. Not only is that equivalent to a slap on a hand, but that is not justice for the victim of this horrible incident. This not only sickens me, but it also makes me fear for the future of the criminal justice system. Along with the short sentence, after hearing that he will be let out 3 months earlier sickens me. I dont care if he was acting like an angel in prison, the fact that he had a short sentence to begin with is bullshit, but now he is getting out 3 months earlier is messed up. While he will have to attend counseling and therapy and be on probation for a while, is not enough in my opinion. For a person to intrude on a women like that, he deserves to rot in jail. While some may argue that he was drunk and didn't know what he was doing, and others may argue that he is just a kid and has his whole life ahead of him. My response to those who think that would be that i don't care if he was sober and 42, he still broke the law and intruded on the victim without her knowledge. He knew damn well what he was doing and did not stop to think about what could happen. This crime does not affect only his life but the life of the victim as well. I can;t imagine what she is thinking right now with the news of her attacker getting out 3 months earlier than what he was sentenced to.
For the most part I'm speechless as to what is happening with the criminal justice system, and i can only hope that it changes. But for certain topics I can voice my opinion on and not regret what i am saying, this is one of those topics. I am outraged that the judge not only sentenced this guy for 6 months which is equivalent to a small crime, but that he is shortening the sentence. Decisions like this make me think why some people are hired. Another case happened where a judge made a short sentence for a sexual assault case because the judge was worried about the kids future. Not only is that a bullshit answer but what these people are missing is the impact on the lives of the victims. This will change their lives forever, they have to live in fear of something like this happening as well as it lowers their trust in people. For these judges to make these idiotic decisions to shorten a already short sentence because of either good behavior or worries is crap and these judges need to either be fired or find a new career because they certainly don't know what they are doing in this one.
