Brock Turner has been the focus of sexual activists since his lenient sentencing back in June. Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail, of which he is presumed to only serve three. And, unfortunately, those three months are up this Friday.
Turner is set to be released from jail, despite the outrage and controversy sparked from the case. While activism managed to scare Aaron Persky out of overseeing criminal cases (days after he pulled himself off a child pornography case), Turner is still walking away from a crime he deserved to spend more time in jail for. Even though Persky will now be handling civil cases, he's free to return to criminal cases whenever he would like. The recall movement is still pursuing their efforts.
But the bright side is:
The California Assembly passed a bill on August 29 that, according to TIME's report, "would impose mandatory sentences on victims of sexual assault who were unconscious." (You may clap.) The bill still needs to be signed by California Governor Jerry Brown, but was supported unanimously the state assembly. It was even written by Santa Clara District Attorney Jeff Rosen, who pushed for a longer jail sentence for Turner.
According to a Mercury News report, Rosen said in a statement, "It gave all of us the inspiration to make sure the next Brock Turner either leaves the next Emily Doe alone, or the next Brock Turner goes to prison."
“This bill is about more than sentencing, it’s about supporting victims and changing the culture on our college campuses to help prevent future crimes," said Assemblyman Bill Dodd in the TIME's report. Had this bill been in place during Turner's sentencing, he would have served a minimum of three years in jail.
Even with this bill, a landmark improvement for getting sexual assault survivors justice, the media is still playing a hand in rape culture. The Washington Post's article about Turner's released is title, "Ex-Stanford swimmer Brock Turner leaves jail this Friday but controversy still rages." To that, I have two things to say:
1. Of course controversy is still raging.
It makes sense that people, activists, victims and survivors are up-in-arms. His sentence was more than lenient — it was despicable. Turner raped an unconscious woman. End of discussion. He deserved more than six months in jail, certainly more than the three months he served. Image how the victim and their family feels knowing that he gets to walk, only having to register as a sex offender. Contrasting to what Turner's father may think, it's an incredibly small price to pay for what Turner did and the trauma he left the victim with.
2. Referring to Turner as an ex-swimmer instead of a rapist means you're actively contributing to rape culture and stunting progress.
Why is it so hard to call Turner what he really is? A rapist. It was proven. Despite the lenient sentence, he was found guilty of raping an unconscious woman. He's no longer an "Ex-Stanford swimmer." He's a rapist. Language like this is part of why judges and society relies so heavily on white-privilege when it comes to assault cases. You're giving rapists an honor they don't deserve.
The main take-away:
Conditions are improving. Sexual assault activists are playing a role, and playing it well, in the advancement and improvement of our laws. Even if it is only one state at a time, that's still something. While we can't punish Brock Turner any further, we can prevent situations like this from continuing to arise.
My hope is that other states with outdated rape laws will re-evaluate them and change them so that rape survivors get the justice they deserve. In a perfect world, the federal government would declare a rape law that encompasses all acts falling under the category of rape. But for now, we're taking this one step at a time. And we're progressing.
