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The Ethical Dilemmas in Turner's Sentence

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The Ethical Dilemmas in Turner's Sentence

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One of present-day society's most notorious and controversial cases is that of People of the State of California v. Brock Allen Turner. In January of 2015, Turner was charged with two counts of felony sexual assault, two counts of rape, and one count of attempted rape. The rape charges were dropped, however, in March of 2016, Turner was found guilty of the other three charges.

The controversy surrounding the case stems from Turner's sentencing, which occurred on June 2, 2016. The maximum sentence for the charges would have been 14 years in prison. Prosecutors proposed six years in prison and probation officers advocated for a modest county jail sentence. Ultimately, Judge Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara Superior Court sentenced Turner to six months in the Santa Clara County jail and then three years of probation. He was also required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life and to participate in a sex offender rehabilitation program. The nation showed outrage at this minimal sentence and blamed Persky's decision to execute such a light punishment on the fact that Turner is an upper class white male. The public has since called for the removal of Judge Persky from the bench.

The largest ethical dilemma in this example is whether or not Persky did take into account Turner's race, sex, and class. Using any of those factors as a consideration in punishment is completely unethical. The focus of the sentence should largely be on the scope of the crime committed, the impact it had on the victim, and the probability of the offender to break the law again, and should take into consideration the recommendations for both sides of the case.

Another ethical dilemma arises from the fact that the judge states he did take into consideration what the recommendations from the prosecutors and the probation officers were. Because the judge believed Turner when he stated that he had the victim's consent, the judge followed the probation officers' notions. He states he did take into account Turner's age, lack of prior convictions, and the fact that he believed that Turner's remorse was indicative of the fact that he would not be any further danger to society. If Persky truly believed that the sentence he chose was the best punishment for the crime, then sentencing Turner to anything else, regardless of how his decision would be viewed in the public's eye, would be unethical.

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There are a variety of challenges within our nation's correctional system. A few of these challenges include determining how best to prevent recidivism, whether or not correctional organizations should be privatized, issues with prison labor, and the acts of correctional staff.

Recidivism occurs when a person who has already committed a crime and served time for it again commits crime. It is largely agreed upon that preventing recidivism is the point of the penal system, but there are disagreements as to how this should be achieved. Some people believe that pure and simple punishment should be the main focus, while others believe that rehabilitation would be the best way to prevent future crime.

The dilemmas regarding the privatization of correctional organizations extend to both prisons and probation and parole services. People who are for privatization argue that private companies can run their programs more efficiently and cost-effectively than the government can. People who are against it argue that the government should be responsible for making the decisions regarding punishment, and that handing that responsibility to private companies is unethical. Another concern with those who oppose privatization is that companies would abuse the system and attempt to keep inmates in for longer periods of time in an effort to generate more income.

Prison labor is another ethical concern. On one hand, it does give inmates something positive to do with their time and can give them skills that will be valuable upon their reintroduction to society. However, this is another area where abuse of the system can occur, as businesses would be able to pay inmates less than the rest of the population. In addition, safety procedures in prisons are often very different than those in a union and can result in more accidents that occur in the prisons.

Finally, the corruption of prison guards and probation and parole officers is also an ethical challenge. People in these authority positions can abuse their roles by sexually harassing inmates and clients, taking bribes, and showing favoritism. All of these actions defeat the mission of justice and cannot be tolerated.

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The Controversial Sentencing of Brock Turner

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The Controversial Sentencing of Brock Turner

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The California judge said the sexual-assault victim suffered "physical and devastating emotional injury," but a prison sentence for her offender was not appropriate.

Stephen Lam / Reuters

Earlier this month, the public learned about a sexual-assault case in California through the words of the people involved. In statements made in court that were widely published online, they heard from the victim, a 23-year-old woman whose name has not been released, who has no memory of the assault and described in excruciating detail how its aftermath robbed her of "my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice." They heard from the offender, Brock Turner, a Stanford University freshman at the time, who said the woman had consented to his sexual advances and blamed "the party culture and risk-taking behavior" of college for his actions. They heard from Turner's father, who pleaded with the judge for leniency after his 20-year-old son was convicted in March, referring to the crimes as "20 minutes of action."

And now, they can hear from the judge in the case, Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara Superior Court, who determined the sentence for Turner that would transform a local case into a point of national debate about sexual assault, male and class privilege, and the criminal justice system. Although Turner was convicted by a unanimous jury, Persky decided his punishment: six months in county jail and three years of probation-far less than the six years prosecutors had asked for, in line with the two-year minimum guideline for each of the three felony counts.

The Guardian on Tuesday published a full transcript (read it here) from Turner's sentencing hearing earlier this month, in which Persky explains his reasoning for the sentence. The main point? Persky believed Turner's side of the story, that the victim gave Turner consent to have sexual contact with her.

"I mean, I take him at his word that, subjectively, that's his version of events," Persky said. "The jury, obviously, found it not to be the sequence of events."

Persky said determining the sentence was a "difficult decision." He said he considered denying Turner probation because of the "physical and devastating emotional injury" of the victim.

Persky took into consideration, among other factors, that Turner was remorseful, was not previously convicted of any crimes, was young, was not armed during the crime, that he would comply with the terms of probation, and he would not be a danger to others if not imprisoned. He said the role alcohol played in the assault is "not an excuse" but "is a factor that, when trying to assess moral culpability in this situation, is mitigating." He said a prison sentence would have "a severe impact" and "adverse collateral consequences" on Turner.

Turner was convicted in March on three felony counts for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman in January 2015 outside of a Stanford fraternity party where they had been drinking heavily. Two graduate students were biking on campus when they spotted Turner on top of the victim, who did not appear to be moving. Turner ran when the men approached, and one of them chased him and tackled him to the ground while police was called.

Turner's sentence stunned many who read the victim's harrowing account. While Turner is required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life, a sentence of six months-which could be reduced to three months for good behavior-seemed far too lenient for the crimes: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.

Sexual-assault advocates pointed to the Stanford case as a prime example for why so many women choose not to report sexual assaults to police or press charges against their rapists and testify against them. Others attributed the judge's leniency to Turner's appearance and background; a white, blonde-haired, and blue-eyed swimmer with Olympic potential, Turner didn't look like a rapist. There was much debate whether the crimes Turner committed amounted to rape with a capital R. While the legal definition of rape varies by state, in California it is defined as "an act of sexual intercourse, including sexual penetration, no matter how slight" under several circumstances, including "where a person is prevented from resisting by any intoxicating or anesthetic substance, or any controlled substance, and this condition was known, or reasonably should have been known by the accused." The FBI goes even further, defining rape as the "penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim." The crimes for which Turner was convicted are in line with these definitions.

The victim, in her 7,244 word-statement to the court during Turner's sentencing hearing, said she was warned her inability to remember her assault would bolster Turner's defense:

I was not only told that I was assaulted, I was told that because I couldn't remember, I technically could not prove it was unwanted. And that distorted me, damaged me, almost broke me. It is the saddest type of confusion to be told I was assaulted and nearly raped, blatantly out in the open, but we don't know if it counts as assault yet. I had to fight for an entire year to make it clear that there was something wrong with this situation.

When I was told to be prepared in case we didn't win, I said, I can't prepare for that. He was guilty the minute I woke up. No one can talk me out of the hurt he caused me. Worst of all, I was warned, because he now knows you don't remember, he is going to get to write the script. He can say whatever he wants and no one can contest it. I had no power, I had no voice, I was defenseless. My memory loss would be used against me. My testimony was weak, was incomplete, and I was made to believe that perhaps, I am not enough to win this. His attorney constantly reminded the jury, the only one we can believe is Brock, because she doesn't remember.

For Persky, a Stanford alumnus, the fallout was swift. His office began receiving threatening phone calls after the victim's letter was published online. An online petition to recall Persky, who is running unopposed for re-election in November, has collected 1.2 million signatures. A Stanford law professor and other members of the local legal community have organized an effort to remove him from the bench. A dozen prospective jurors have refused to serve in his courtroom. And this week, the Santa Clara District Attorney's filed a successful motion to stop Persky from presiding over another sexual-assault case.

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Why the Stanford Judge Gave Brock Turner Six Months

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The California judge said the sexual-assault victim suffered "physical and devastating emotional injury," but a prison sentence for her offender was not appropriate. Earlier this month, the public learned about a sexual-assault case in California through the words of the people involved.