Judge Aaron Persky was doomed after the ‘slap on the wrist’ sentence he gave convicted rapist Brock Turner [photo]. The convict was later released after only three months for good behavior
Brock committed his sex offense at 19. At 22, he is now required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Persky expressed little regret for his order and told The Associated Press last month he would not change how he handled the case. Until the issue Persky, 56, who was appointed to the bench in 2003 by Gov. Gray Davis, subsequently winning two new six-year terms without opposition,drew little public attention or criticism until 2016, when he presided over the sexual assault trial of Stanford student Brock Turner.
National focus on the case increased after the victim’s heart-wrenching impact statement was shared with BuzzFeed and read to members of Congress.
The judge ignored a recommended six-year prison sentence from prosecutors and instead listened to advice from the county probation department for Turner’s punishment.
In her victim impact statement, Emily Doe said to Turner “You have taken away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence.”
She considered the proposed jail sentence “an insult to me and all women,”e had taken away the victim said.
The statement went viral, galvanized women’s rights advocates, igniting a campaign that generated nearly 100,000 signatures on recall petitions.
It was also instrumental in the rapid enactment of a new state law requiring at least three years in prison for sexual penetration of an unconscious victim.
Volunteers for the Recall Persky Campaign, outside the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters in Jan 2018,. The group turned in nearly 100,000 signatures at the Santa Clara to call for the recall of Judge Aaron Persky
The northern California judge believes he is the “most hated man on the internet” for the ruling. Most of the backlash preceded the far-reaching #MeToo movement against sexual harassment and assault.
Amid the recall effort, an intransigent Persky refused to step down from his bench. In the interview, he took an exception to the campaign to oust him as “fundamentally unfair.”
While removing a sitting judge in California is rare, it has precedence. Voters last recalled a judge in 1932, the fourth since 1911.
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