Turner set for release
Ex-Stanford student convicted in sexual assault will be freed on Friday. Bill to toughen penalties for assault advances.
SACRAMENTO — Legislation inspired by outrage over a former student-athlete’s light punishment for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman outside a Stanford frat party cleared its last hurdle Monday when the state Assembly unanimously endorsed it on a bipartisan vote.
California law treats sexual assault of a conscious person as a more severe crime than attacking an unconscious person. Brock Turner’s case, and the gripping testimonial his victim read in court and later published online, drew national attention to the disparity.
Assembly Bill 2888, written by Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen and carried by three Bay Area lawmakers — Assemblymen Evan Low and Bill Dodd and state Sen. Jerry Hill — seeks to eliminate that imbalance by imposing the same punishment for both crimes. It would prohibit probation in cases like Turner’s, effectively requiring jail time for anyone convicted of rape or sexual assault of an unconscious or intoxicated person.
Insisting the measure will make California safer for women, Rosen thanked Turner’s victim for sharing her “courageous letter” with the world.
“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,” Rosen said in a statement. Under the flexible sentencing guidelines in place now for those convicted of an assault involving an unconscious person, Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in June ordered Turner to serve six months in county jail plus three years of probation rather than sending him to prison. He’s set to be released on Friday after serving three months. The early release was widely expected due to his lack of prior criminal history.
Persky’s judgment drew much scorn, and next month, at his own request, he’ll be transferred from criminal court to civil court.
“Judge Persky’s ruling was unjustifiable and morally
wrong,” said Low, D-Cupertino. “While we can’t go back and change what happened, we can make sure it never happens again.”
Michele Dauber, the Stanford law professor leading a campaign to recall Persky, said California’s penal code on rape and sexual assault should be rewritten and simplified but that the modification sought by AB 2888 is a “common sense” adjustment.
“We shouldn’t reward rapists just because they didn’t use force,” Dauber said.
The ACLU of California remains the legislation’s most vocal opponent, and Natasha Minsker, director of the group’s Center for Advocacy and Policy, said she will lobby Gov. Jerry Brown to reject it.
“The well-intentioned mandatory minimum sentence this bill creates will have negative impacts on communities of color and other unintended consequences,” Minsker said.
Last week, the Assembly took a largely symbolic step when it unanimously approved Assembly Bill 701, authored by Assemblywomen Cristina Garcia, D-Bell Gardens, and Susan Eggman, D-Stockton. The measure aims to broaden the definition of rape to include forced penetration of any body part with any foreign object. Both bills now await action by Brown, who has until Sept. 30 to sign or veto them.
The Assembly on Monday also approved Senate Bill 1069, authored by Sen. Bob Wieckowski, D-Fremont, which makes it easier for homeowners to build so-called “granny flats,” and Assembly Bill 1676, authored by Nora Campos, DSan Jose, which adds prior salary to the list of reasons California employers cannot use to justify paying women less than men in wage discrimination actions.