Crimes are punished according to their seriousness, right? If the Brock Turner case is an example of this, there is no faith left for the justice system.
Brock Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person. He could have served a maximum of 10 years in prison, but was instead sentenced for just six months. On September 2, he was let out after only three months.
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In case this needs to be put into perspective, here is a short list of things that lasted longer than Brock Turner’s jail time:
The time it takes McDonald’s hamburger to decompose.
In a laboratory experiment, a McDonald’s hamburger took 180 days to start decomposing. Maybe if Brock Turner would have served his sentence that long, he would have started to decompose, too.
The Average Tube of Lipstick
Lipstick, lip glosses, foundation, and concealer can all be worn for two years before going bad. The average woman could have served Brock Turner’s sentence eight times without having to replenish her makeup bag even once.
Martha Stewart’s Jail Time
The lifestyle guru and television personality served 152 days behind bars for insider trading, which is obviously a much more serious crime than rape.
Young love
According to scientists, the oxytocin levels in a person’s bloodstream that are responsible for making them feel “in love” begin to fall off after six months. This is to say that the average hormone-filled fifteen-year-old has had butterflies for longer than Brock Turner sat behind bars.
Forrest Gump’s cross-country run
Forrest Gump ran for 3 years, 2 months, 14 days and 16 hours. In terms of the Brock Turner case, this is almost 17 of his jail sentences
The jail time of a black man who was falsely accused of rape
Brian Banks served five years of jail time after pleading to raping a woman he did not rape. He took the plea because he knew that if he tried the case in front of an all-white jury, his sentence would undoubtedly be longer. He was released after the accuser falsified her story.
Brock Turner’s Trial
On January 18, 2015, Brock turner was found raping a half-naked, unconscious woman in the bushes outside a fraternity house. The two men who caught Turner had to chase him and hold him to the ground until police arrived. He was found guilty of rape on March 30, 2016. On June 2, 2016, Judge Persky sentenced Turner to a mere six months in jail, because a harsher punishment would have a “severe impact” on him.
After nearly a year and a half of an arduous and emotionally-taxing trial, adequate justice was not served.
Rape is a crime that is handle horribly in the judicial system and within academic institutions. Over 50 percent of rapes go unreported, and almost 100 percent of rapists are never incarcerated. For those who do see jail time, it is disturbingly similar to Brock Turner’s sentence. To hear statistics like “1 and 4 college women will be assaulted” and “97 percent of rapists don’t face imprisonment” is one; to see this injustice in practice in cases like this one is a different perspective.
Although months have passed since this story has been on the news, it is more important than ever to discuss it. Despite many people arguing for Turner, saying that rape allegations can ruin a young man's life forever, recent events in the nation regarding the 2016 election have proved this to be incorrect.
It is important to always keep these kinds of conversations active in media and in one's day to day. If this past year was to teach us anything, it is the importance of never backing down in the face of injustice.
