Gov. signs sex crime bills linked to Stanford case
Defendants will face longer sentences if convicted.
SACRAMENTO, CALIF. — California Gov. Jerry Brown has signed two sexual assault laws in response to national outrage over the six-month jail sentence given to a former Stanford University swimmer for sexually assaulting a woman passed out near a trash bin.
The Democratic governor announced his approval Friday of laws requiring longer sentences to be served in state prison for defendants convicted of assaulting unconscious victims, ending the possibility of brief jail sentences like the one Brock Turner received in June.
Turner faced a minimum s e nt e nc e o f t wo ye a r s i n state prison, and prosecutors argued for six years, but Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky cited the “extraordinary circumstances” of Turner’s youth and clean criminal record in imposing the shorter county jail term.
The new law removes that option, meaning future defendants will face state prison sentences as long as 14 years.
“Judge Persky’s ruling was unjustifiable and morally wrong, however, under current state law it was within his discretion. While we can’t go back and change what happened, we have made sure it never happens again,” Assemblyman Evan Low, D-Campbell, said in a statement. “If you do the crime, you’re going to do the time.”
Turner’s case burst into the spotlight after a poignant statement from the victim swept through social media.
Politicians and law enforcement officials have lined up alongside sexual assault survivors to criticize Turner’s sentence, back a recall effort against the judge and urge Brown to sign the tougher sentencing legislation.
The 21-year-old one-time Olympic hopeful was released from the Santa Clara County jail in September after serv- ing three months for good behavior. He will be on probation for three years in his native Ohio.
Brown said in a signing message that he usually opposes adding more mandatory minimum sentences. But he said he signed the sentencing bill “because I believe it brings a measure of parity to sentencing for criminal acts that are substantially similar.”
Outside jail after Turner’s release, county Sheriff Laurie Smith said she believed his sentence was too light and urged Brown to sign the bill.
“Letting felons convicted of such crimes get off with probation discourages other survivors from coming forward and sends the message that raping incapacitated victims is no big deal,” Democratic Assemblyman Bill Dodd of Napa said in a statement after lawmakers approved his bill.
But more than two dozen groups dedicated to ending campus sexual assaults urged Brown to veto it, fearing the punishment would more likely be applied to minority and lower-income defendants than white offenders like Turner.
Mahroh Jahangiri, executive director of Know Your IX, a national organization representing survivors, said mandatory minimum sentences also could deter victims from pressing charges against their attackers, who are often people they know.