Let's face it, this world is not fair. To many people, this means many different things. But what I would like to put your attention on is Brock Turner: the ex-Stanford swimmer who raped a girl behind a dumpster. People all over blew this story up, creating a hot topic of discussion. As many people were on the side of the rape victim, Turner was only given 6 months in prison. To me, that is not nearly enough time for someone who did what he did. It is not fair that a rapist can walk away from his crime only serving a half a year, while drug dealers and other offenders get life sentences. I do believe the justice system tries their best to do what is right, but when it comes to Brock Turner this is not fair and this is not justice.
Many of you probably know that Brock Turner recently walked out of prison after only serving half, let me repeat that, HALF of his sentence. That is only THREE months. In what world is that justice? In what world is this fair? Has anyone stopped to think what this kid will do next? If he can rape an innocent girl and only get three months in prison, he may very well do something like this again because he knows he can get out of it. Now, maybe he won't commit a crime ever again, but why would we take that chance?
Has anyone thought of the victim here? She already has to live with what happened for the rest of her life, but now she doesn't get justice. Society is telling this girl that she doesn't matter. Society is telling this girl she is worthless. She already must feel pain and as if she is worthless because some guy could take advantage of her like that, but now that he gets to walk away after only serving three months, society is telling her that it doesn't matter what he did, he can walk free. But no man should ever walk free after committing a crime like that. After taking a girl's innocence, after stealing her self-worth. He should be locked away forever.
It may seem insensitive but I do not care what Turner's family has to say, Turner committed a crime and deserves to pay for it. If instead of Turner being their son, what if the victim was their daughter, how would they feel then? How do you think the victim's family feels? No matter how well your son was raised or how good of a kid he used to be, he raped an innocent girl and should be serving a proper sentence.
Our justice system no longer serves justice. They let guilty criminals walk free way too often. And as a college female who has been raped myself, I cannot express how much anger and hatred I have for our justice system because of Brock Turner. The world is not a fair place, and that may just be life. But our justice system should be. This is what protects us, what punishes people for their crimes so they cannot commit them again, it is what holds us together, and by letting Turner walk free after only three months, the justice system is not upholding their duties. They are feeding the criminals, feeding the bad and unfair people in this world.
I hope that one day a man will not walk free after raping someone. I hope that our justice system will stop letting people go with a slap on the wrist. I hope that rapists stop. I hope the victims overcome their past and show the world they are worth something. And I hope that one day we can all live freely and fairly. But right now I can only hope.
