The case of The People v. Brock Turner is probably the most controversial case we've seen this year. I've mostly refrained from commenting because the situation seems tricky, but seeing this man walk away from his consequences so easily has brought me out of the shadows. The victims of sexual assault are a category of people that remains to be given justice, apparently.
To Mr. Turner, the victim is changed forever. She will never be the same again, and there’s no going back on what happened. Remorseful or not, this is due to your actions, and you have a responsibility to take. Believe me; you will never redeem yourself of this mistake. But, you did get out of the sentence for whatever white-male-privileged reason, so now you’re probably looking forward to getting back on track with your life.
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However, I would expect it to be hard to continue for several reasons: The school may not accept you back in; it’s going to be hard to find any job with your record, and people are going to be upset with you in general. The world is a very dark place, so you may find that you aren’t welcome anywhere, except perhaps the gates of hell. I will say that the world is a dark place if you can even dare to do what you did to that woman, but when it comes to any death sentence, I woefully disagree.
I will somehow find hope in this situation by presenting you with several things you can do with your life. Because life is important, and maybe you can turn yours around.
1. Donate Blood
This one is first because it takes quite a while until you can do so again. It's also a great way to save lives, according to the Red Cross, so go right ahead; maybe you can do some good here.
2. Volunteer
Here are some great examples of volunteer work that would better suit your post-prison lifestyle: Working at a food bank. Working at an animal shelter. Picking up pieces of trash on the side of the highway, just like the victim has to pick up the pieces of her life.
3. Work an entry-level job
Take McDonald's, for example. The money's already improving, so that will help support your personal financial growth while you volunteer, assuming they'll hire you despite your background. Oh, and serving customers for a while might teach you how to properly interact with others, say, with consent, or it might teach you how life is without a white-male privilege to grant you better job opportunities.
4. Teach
Except, no one will let you around their children. I didn't consider that, but I guess you didn't either.
5. Not swim
Ooh, sorry, but you're probably not going to get to do that. You have to remember something important here: You took away an entire world from another person. You are no longer entitled to get what you want. By all means, be remorseful, take responsibility for your actions, but don't just return to life the way it was. Life, for the victim, is never going to return to the way it was, and that seems to be something people forget these days.
