Dear Judge Persky

You've had quite an interesting week. Your most recent case has been all over the news. It has been covered by every major news, tabloid, and media outlet. Millions of Americans have talked about the case and have taken to social media to discuss their thoughts. However, maybe what is being said is not what you had expected. You may have thought that most Americans would have praised you for the sentence that you issued to Brock Turner. They may have related with the sympathy that you showed this young man with extraordinary athletic potential and understood where you were coming from. If these are the thoughts that you had after making your decision, you were so far from right. The entire nation is outraged by what happened to that poor victim and what happened in the court room. Even though there is a Change.org petition being signed by over 650,000 people to remove you from the bench, I do not think enough attention has been brought to you and the disservice you did to not only the victim but the entire justice system.

You've served on the bench for 13 years and have had no controversies up until this point. Many have described you has a hardliner when it comes to sentencing, but this description clearly did not translate into this case. You have served as an executive committee member of the "Support Network for Battered Women" but did not come to a sentencing decision that reflected your so called commitment to battered women. In your very own words you have described your work "to keep the most dangerous sex offenders in custody in mental hospitals" but yet for Brock, you only gave him a light sentence of six months in prison with three years' probation.

You, yourself are a Stanford grad. You were an athlete, serving as captain of your lacrosse team. You even coached lacrosse for a period of time at your alma mater. Maybe you related to Brock, himself being a current student at Stanford and a star swimmer. You knew he was actually a good person based off of his athletic prowess and he should not have to rot in prison for years with all the dangerous sex offenders and rapists. A short stint in prison, probation, and his name on the sex offender list was enough punishment for this young, white, privileged, athlete because an actual prison sentence would "have a severe impact on him."

But Judge Persky, what about the life shattering and altering impact that Brock had on the victim? Did you not remember that the girl that Brock violently raped was the actual victim in this case and not Brock? Were you aware that you hold a huge position in our legal system that is meant to bring about justice and protect those, like the victim, that experience the wrath of those twisted individuals in our society like Brock? Did you feel any sympathy for the victim as she poignantly and gracefully read her letter aloud to Brock in front of the whole court room? Did you have her and all those that are victims of sexual abuse and rape in mind when you made your sentencing decision? Or were you more concerned about how Brock's future would be altered by a fair sentencing? Do you feel comfortable knowing that your sentencing decision could possibly set a terrifying standard for the entire legal system when it comes to cases similar to this one? Finally, are you able to sleep soundly at night knowing that Brock will only have to serve a mere six months in prison and probation, where as the victim will carry around the pain and all the other emotions that came from the attack with her for her entire life knowing that the justice system and more importantly, you failed her?