California must update its rape laws
Two bills written in the wake of Brock Turner’s light sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman have moved out of committee, and one has passed the full Assembly. Both need to be sent to Gov. Jerry Brown’s desk, and he should sign them into law.
The bills would have increased the minimum penalty for Turner’s crime, which was committed in 2015 outside a fraternity party on the Stanford campus and was halted when witnesses happened by.
Opponents say these laws are just extensions of the tough-on-crime movement over the past few decades that reduced judicial discretion and turned California prisons into overcrowded hellholes. But less or more prison time isn’t the point. The bills remedy unjust and irrational provisions in existing law that insult assault victims, whose suffering can last a lifetime.
It was a shock to some legislators this year that California law considered raping or sexually assaulting an unconscious victim a lesser crime than attacking someone who might be able to fight back. Assembly Bill 2888, written by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen, would remove that ridiculous distinction.
Carried by Assemblymen Evan Low, D-Cupertino, and Bill Dodd, D-Napa, and state Sen. Jerry Hill, D-San Mateo, it’s expected to go to an Assembly floor vote next week.
The other bill — AB 701, authored by Assemblywomen Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, and Susan Eggman, D-Stockton — adopts the definition of rape in federal law, which includes penetration with a foreign object. It passed the Assembly this week.
In both cases, the changes remove distinctions without a difference in current law and recognize the lifelong harm done to victims of sexual assault. They also offer a clearer standard of what’s right and what’s wrong. Unfortunately, that seems to be needed in today’s sexually predatory climate on college campuses.
The Turner case has become a national cause celebre since Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky handed down a light sentence: probation, and what will amount to three months in county jail. Persky seemed to sympathize with the former Stanford swimming star, even though Turner had lied about prior use of alcohol and drugs and never expressed real remorse for his actions, although he clearly was sorry he got caught.
The sentence has led to a movement to recall the judge at the earliest opportunity, which will be next year. But that won’t solve anything without clarifying the law.
Even some lawyers who support the recall admit there are others on the bench with more dubious records on sexual assault cases.
The law needs to change so that no judge can count sexual assault or rape as a less serious offense if the victim happens to be unconscious.