Brock Turner a former Stanford University student as well as champion swimmer who was found guilty in March of 2016 for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus of Stanford. Turner, a swimmer who had hoped to compete in the Olympics, was arrested in 2015 for sexually assaulting a woman outside a fraternity party, having been caught by two graduate students riding their bikes past the scene. Turner, who was 19 at the time, claimed the woman referred to as Emily Doe throughout the trial had consented to the sexual encounter. in their appeal, Turner’s lawyers also objected to the way Deputy District Attorney Alaleh Kianerci referred to the incident. By saying it occurred “behind a dumpster”, the brief argues, Kianerci “implied moral depravity, callousness, and culpability on the appellant’s part because of the inherent connotations of filth, garbage, detritus and criminal activity frequently generally associated with dumpsters.
While Emily Doe’s position might have been obscured from certain angles behind the trash bin, the graduate students who found her approached from a different angle, where they could see her. Emily Doe was found partially clothed, with a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit. She had reportedly been unconscious for three hours.
A 7,200-word letter she wrote to Turner and read aloud in court captured national attention when it was published by buzz feed. 18 members of Congress read it on the house floor.
The case highlighted an epidemic of campus sexual assault and lenient sexual violence policies at colleges including Stanford.
“Brock Turner received a fair trial and was justly convicted,” Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen said to the Mercury News. “His conviction will be upheld. Nothing can ever roll back Emily Doe’s legacy of raising the world’s awareness about sexual assault.”
Turner had claimed that the pair went outside the Kappa Alpha House, where the party was taking place, and kissed. He said he took off her underwear, penetrated her with his hands and touched her breasts, but never took off his pants. According to Turner, the woman appeared to be enjoying herself as she rubbed his back.
The victim said she had drunk too much at the party, passed out, and only regained consciousness later in hospital.
Brock claimed his intentions were not to try and rape the girl without her consent but to hook up with a girl. He said he stumbled away thinking he would vomit when he noticed another man near him asking what he was doing.
Santa Clara County Superior Court rejected his defence and he was found guilty of three felonies including assault with intent to rape.
In a letter, Turner’s friend Leslie Rasmussen told Judge Aaron Persky, who has been criticised for handing Turner a 6-month sentence for a crime that carries a maximum 14-year jail term, that the All-American swimming champion was very respectful of everyone.
Rasmussen’s statement was shared various times on social media’s and read, “Brock is not a monster. He is the furthest thing from anything like that, and I have known him much longer than the people involved in this case. I don’t think it’s fair to base the fate of the next ten + years of his life on the decision of a girl who doesn’t remember anything but the amount she drank to press charges against him.
“I am not blaming her directly for this, because that isn’t right. But where do we draw the line and stop worrying about being politically correct every second of the day and see that rape on campuses isn’t always because people are rapists. It is because universities market themselves as the biggest party schools in the country. They encourage drinking.”
Part of Turner’s defense, and his own impact statement, was that he had been wrong to drink alcohol, His victim, known only as Emily Doe, disputed in her own powerful victim impactful statement explaining: “you were not wrong for drinking. Everyone around you was not sexually assaulting me. You were wrong for doing what nobody else was doing.”
Turner said in his defense he was planning to educate people about the dangers of drinking, something his victim said showed he did not understand that drinking was not the crime he had committed.The university’s poor record on investigating rape came under as the case went to trial with just four out of 175 reported sexual assaults between 1997 and 2009 looked into.
Rasmussen’s statement continued: “I think it is disgusting and I am so sick of hearing that these young men are monsters when really, you are throwing barely 20-somethings into these camp-like university environments, supporting partying, and then your mind is blown when things get out of hand.This is completely different from a woman getting kidnapped and raped as she is walking to her car in a parking lot. That is a rapist. These are not rapists. These are idiot boys and girls having too much to drink and not being aware of their surroundings and having clouded judgement.I’m not saying that is every case because I know there are young men that take advantage of young women and vice versa, but I know for a fact that Brock is not one of those people.” (truesdall)
Turner only served three months in a county jail. The sentence that has been criticised by his father for being too harsh, and by hundreds of people on social media for being too lenient.
I think the saddest part of this case is the cultural and legal excuses that were given for him by the public and friends. We failed. And that means we have a system that will continually allow this sort of selfish, destructive, cruel behavior. We will continue to only hold and support victims we decide to for as long as we decide to while we at once create perpetrators through the machinery of privilege.
I think it’s important to see the real faces, it’s not always your creepy uncle or the sleazy dude. Monsters don’t look like monsters. Monsters are made. And monsters behave like monsters. It shows underneath their disguises, their human skin, their power. Because all monsters have power. They really do claw. They consume. They eat the flesh of innocence. They lurk. They do so in a world that doesn’t see them for what they are. We see surfaces. We allow them to exist. We forgive them “human nature” because they are redeemable. They live without the scars they inflict. Because they were once good to “us” or in our minds.
The problem is where we put value. We worship success and leave no room for failure. So we, as a society, fail when we see failure or misfortune as saying something about the value of a person. This person succeeded in wealth, celebrity or power so they are good. That person failed to get a good education, a good job, a good partner so they are bad. In creating these associations, which wear in like ruts, we streamline social functioning into a terrifying judgment. We inhibit growth, community and love. We make everything conditional on their utility and capacity as assets. We diminish the humanity we should protect. We fail at the most important fundamental thing, to be human. What makes us human as distinct from animals is our ethics and the ability to be kind. Kindness is a more cultivated version of empathy. Nothing more than things you and everyone you love suddenly can be an exception in the right context and with the right incentive. We measure goodness and our forgiveness according to success. We measure bad behavior in discrete increments, maybe he raped someone that night in “bad judgment” but he is a good guy.
Judge Aaron Persky says he has no regrets. The Northern California judge says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost three years ago, though it’s the reason he is the target of a June 5 recall election and has become the self-described “most hated man on the internet.”
In an interview, the 56-year-old Persky argued that the Santa Clara County recall effort was “fundamentally unfair” because it reduces a complicated criminal case to a litany of inflammatory Twitter hashtags. He even got a little teary-eyed as he protested being turned into a one-dimensional caricature of the judge who condones rape.”I expected some negative reaction,” Persky said. “But not this.”(CNN)
In contrast, the later criticism is fundamentally about racism and classism, and attacks a culture of white elite privilege. It says, “If rich white kids get a break, so do poor kids of color. If poor kids of color don’t get a break, neither do rich white kids. We need to make absolutely clear that justice can’t depend on the color of your skin or the size of your bank account.” It applies regardless of the offense, and regardless of whether the offender is male or female. (Verdict)
The recall effort comes amid the growing influence of the #MeToo movement, and observers say it will serve as a bellwether of the movement’s influence on national politics.
On June 2, 2016, Persky followed the county probation department’s recommendation when he sentenced Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman known in court records as Emily Doe. Turner is also required to register for life as a sex offender.
In court, the victim read an emotional statement recounting the assault, her treatment by investigators and the ordeal of facing questions about her sexual activity and drinking habits. It quickly went viral.
“Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney’s questions that would be invasive, aggressive and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers,” she wrote. “This was a game of strategy, as if I could be tricked out of my own worth.”
Persky declined to discuss Doe’s statement or other details of the case because it’s on appeal. Generally, he said, California law requires him to take into account the victim’s statement.
Turner is appealing his jury conviction, arguing he didn’t get a fair trial because character witnesses were barred from testifying about his honesty, scholastic success and his swimming career. Persky also declined to elaborate on his reasoning for Turner’s sentence, which was widely criticized as too lenient.
Stanford University law professor Michele Dauber is one of the leaders of the recall campaign. Dauber is a friend of the victim’s and was in the courtroom for Turner’s sentencing. She’s an outspoken on-campus activist who has helped push through more stringent sexual harassment and abuse reporting and investigation policies.
Dauber also is an adept Democratic fundraiser who has organized a well-financed recall campaign with photos of Persky with Turner’s booking mug shot. Dauber said Persky’s position takes a “dim view of judicial integrity” and that she has faith judges will continue to exercise their independence regardless of the outcome.
The problem is not privilege or entitlement or buzz-words. It is worse than that. It is our acclimation to the idea that it is okay to base decisions on a cost-benefit analysis in a predator-and-prey, dog-eat-dog world. A world where people are utility. A world where opportunity is reason enough. We all men and women must shine a bright light on all sexual violence. We will know progress has come when rather than shame and judgment, survivors of rape and sexual assault are given empathy and support just like all other victims of violence.
The survivor in the Brock Turner case received a lot of empathy and support, and she deserved to. It’s time all survivors receive the same.
Kebodeaux, Claire. “RAPE SENTENCING: WE’RE ALL MAD ABOUT BROCK TURNER, BUT NOW WHAT?” Ebsco Host, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=1dce7d80-6839-4998-988f-a903a38cbb0e%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=126371518&db=a9h.
The article discusess laws governing rape in the U.S. Topics discussed include use of restorative justice for helping the victims of certain sex crimes; past and current sentencing regimes of the rape; and use of restorative justice in place of sentencing by the lawyers in specific cases of rape and misdemeanor sex crimes.
Dockterman, Eliana. “On Campuses, ‘Party Culture’ No Longer Excuses Rape.” Ebsco Host, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=1dce7d80-6839-4998-988f-a903a38cbb0e%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=116188904&db=a9h.
The article discusses the issue of rape on campuses as a result of the so-called party culture in the U.S. Topics covered include the six-month prison sentence imposed on former Stanford University swimmer Brock Allen Turner for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, the creation of a culture in which women are responsible for preventing sexual assaults against themselves, and the criticism against Turner’s light sentence in the midst of a cultural focus on the rights of rape victims.
Truesdell, Jeff. “QUESTIONS & CONTROVERSY STANFORD RAPE CASE.” Ebsco Host, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=7&sid=1dce7d80-6839-4998-988f-a903a38cbb0e%40sessionmgr4008&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=116188981&db=a9h.
The article looks at the rape case of Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner, which occurred during the Kappa Alpha fraternity party on January 17, 2015. Topics discussed include the water polo player Lauren Samantha Norheim was sexually assaulted by Turner, the controversy over Turner blaming his crime on the party culture, and the 12-page letter by Norheim that addressed the crime and criticized the court for reducing the prison sentence of Turner to 3 months.
Joseph Margulies Joseph Margulies, et al. “Racism, Classism, Feminism … and Brock Turner.” Verdict Comments, 5 Sept. 2016, verdict.justia.com/2016/09/06/racism-classism-feminism-brock-turner.
This article explains the legal allegations given to Brock Turner as well as how we view him. Some say he’s not a monster although other believe he should be on death row. Sexual abuse is a terrible act done by one, although others believe Brock’s case is a forgivable act.
kebodeaux, Claire. “We’re All Mad about Brock Turner, but Now What?” Ebsco Host, web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=9e4d0a2b-966d-43a7-8dc2-17587eee5729%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=126371518&db=a9h.
The article discusses laws governing rape in the U.S. Topics discussed include use of restorative justice for helping the victims of certain sex crimes; past and current sentencing regimes of the rape; and use of restorative justice in place of sentencing by the lawyers in specific cases of rape and misdemeanor sex crimes.
Dockterman, Eliana. “On Campuses, ‘Party Culture’ No Longer Excuses Rape.” Ebsco Host,web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=4&sid=9e4d0a2b-966d-43a7-8dc2-17587eee5729%40sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=116188904&db=a9h.
The article discusses the issue of rape on campuses as a result of the so-called party culture in the U.S. Topics covered include the six-month prison sentence imposed on former Stanford University swimmer Brock Allen Turner for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, the creation of a culture in which women are responsible for preventing sexual assaults against themselves, and the criticism against Turner’s light sentence in the midst of a cultural focus on the rights of rape victims.
Daniel, White. “Brock Turner May Only Serve Half of 6 Month Jail Sentence for Stanford Sexual Assault.” Ebsco Host web.a.ebscohost.com/ehost/detail/detail?vid=6&sid=9e4d0a2b-966d-43a7-8dc2-17587eee572940sessionmgr4006&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#AN=116134094&db=a9h.
This website provides a sufficient amount of information on his sentencing from his doing. It covers the legal actions he had to deal with as well as his attorney’s actions.
Professor Ramos' Blog 