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The FaceTwitterverse is in full rage mode over the news that Brock Turner – the affluent Stanford student and champion swimmer who was facing a 14-year jail sentence for raping a woman – got six months because the judge figured hey, Brock feels really bad about it, and is it really fair to ruin his life over “20 minutes of action” and a little excess drinking?
Honestly, most of what I could say about this, I’ve said before regarding the Steubenville case three years ago.
If I could add anything else, it’s this:
Look, either rape is a serious and heinous crime or it’s not. There’s really no middle ground here. If society is going to designate rape as a terrible crime (which it should, because it is), then the punishment needs to reflect that, and it must do so consistently. You can’t say rape is a serious crime and then make excuses and exceptions for people with promising futures who don’t fit yr stereotypical (and highly inaccurate) profile of leering strangers in dark alleys. That undermines the seriousness of the offense and trivializes its effects on the victim.
Also, the argument that we should go easy on him because he feels really bad about it is just weird. Turner’s official statement of lament, sincere as it may or may not be, comes across as the equivalent of: “Look, I’m sure the girl feels victimized and all, but can we talk about how I feel for a minute?”
I do wonder what he thought when the victim read her statement to him directly in court. Was he moved? Ashamed? Bored? Was he even listening?
I have no idea. But assuming her letter was read aloud after he handed in his statement, maybe it helped him finally get it. Maybe he’ll decide to speak out against rape culture instead of party culture. Maybe he’ll tell other students the real life lesson here is this: “When yr alone with a woman who is incapacitated from drinking too much, the one thing you DO NOT do EVER EVER EVER is stick yr penis inside her – not because it’s illegal, but because it’s just so wrong that I can’t believe this has to be explained to you.”
I hope so. If he’s not going to spend more than a few months in jail, it's the very least he can do.
By the way, I don’t mind if he throws college party culture in as part of his lecture. I’m not a fan of either binge-drinking or peer pressure, and young people should be encouraged to avoid both. But it’s not the primary problem in this case. We know this because most guys who get drunk at parties DON’T sexually assault incapacitated women behind dumpsters. So I’m not having this whole “I didn’t rape that girl, party culture did” meme.
Sober up,
This is dF
Honestly, most of what I could say about this, I’ve said before regarding the Steubenville case three years ago.
If I could add anything else, it’s this:
Look, either rape is a serious and heinous crime or it’s not. There’s really no middle ground here. If society is going to designate rape as a terrible crime (which it should, because it is), then the punishment needs to reflect that, and it must do so consistently. You can’t say rape is a serious crime and then make excuses and exceptions for people with promising futures who don’t fit yr stereotypical (and highly inaccurate) profile of leering strangers in dark alleys. That undermines the seriousness of the offense and trivializes its effects on the victim.
Also, the argument that we should go easy on him because he feels really bad about it is just weird. Turner’s official statement of lament, sincere as it may or may not be, comes across as the equivalent of: “Look, I’m sure the girl feels victimized and all, but can we talk about how I feel for a minute?”
I do wonder what he thought when the victim read her statement to him directly in court. Was he moved? Ashamed? Bored? Was he even listening?
I have no idea. But assuming her letter was read aloud after he handed in his statement, maybe it helped him finally get it. Maybe he’ll decide to speak out against rape culture instead of party culture. Maybe he’ll tell other students the real life lesson here is this: “When yr alone with a woman who is incapacitated from drinking too much, the one thing you DO NOT do EVER EVER EVER is stick yr penis inside her – not because it’s illegal, but because it’s just so wrong that I can’t believe this has to be explained to you.”
I hope so. If he’s not going to spend more than a few months in jail, it's the very least he can do.
By the way, I don’t mind if he throws college party culture in as part of his lecture. I’m not a fan of either binge-drinking or peer pressure, and young people should be encouraged to avoid both. But it’s not the primary problem in this case. We know this because most guys who get drunk at parties DON’T sexually assault incapacitated women behind dumpsters. So I’m not having this whole “I didn’t rape that girl, party culture did” meme.
Sober up,
This is dF
