By NYAH TENNELL<\/p>\n
Twenty-year-old Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University was arrested Jan. 18, 2015, after two graduate students discovered him on top of an unconscious woman outside Kappa Alpha fraternity at approximately 1 a.m.<\/p>\n
Following the incident, Turner withdrew from Stanford and was found guilty of three felony charges: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, sexual penetration of an intoxicated person and sexual penetration of an unconscious person.<\/p>\n
The maximum sentence\u00a0for his crimes are\u00a014 years in the state of California.<\/p>\n
However, Turner got off with a mere six-month sentence, only serving three, under a California law that gives credit for\u00a0time served.<\/p>\n
Well, Judge\u00a0Aaron Persky,\u00a0you\u2019ve officially set yet another standard for white-privilege and legal precedent.<\/p>\n
Given Turner’s circumstance,\u00a0he is\u00a0no \u201ctrue\u201d criminal, right?<\/p>\n
The seriousness and severity of rape should never be taken lightly or handled with leniency. Not only does it mock the pain and suffering experienced by the victim, light sentences and leniency for privileged individuals sets a precedent for the continuation of injustices.<\/p>\n
Would the news media response have made more of a difference if Turner was black, or if it was a black judge\u00a0deciding the same ruling?<\/p>\n
Turner\u00a0is no victim of college-drinking culture, America\u2019s political and social constructs or social pressures.Turner is a\u00a0felon, who has been let off by the hands of biased judging and white-washed,\u00a0misogynistic loopholes in our justice system.<\/p>\n
It is disturbing\u00a0that some media outlets have cast Turner to be the victim\u00a0of a broken system.<\/p>\n
For example, a Sept. 4 CNN\u00a0article written by Emanuella Grinberg and Janette Gagon<\/a>\u00a0is slightly misfocused in my opinion, and does too much work making the case that Turner is an athlete, and\u00a0that it is not unusual for someone with a strong athletic and academic background to be\u00a0sentenced leniently, if sentenced at all.<\/p>\n Although that assertion is probably\u00a0true, the\u00a0media as a whole\u00a0tends to flee from topics of race.<\/p>\n Yet, this is white-privilege at its finest, and should be called as such.<\/p>\n Too much justification,\u00a0too many excuses, and not enough sympathy and advocacy for victims of sexual assault and rape feed into the system and culture surrounding this very issue itself.<\/p>\n Large media corporations and conglomerates, like CNN, should not just report the news and statistics;\u00a0they should speak out against unjust social constructs and unfairly punished injustices.<\/p>\n These media corporations help\u00a0influence the beliefs and understanding of our community, and if more was done, the case could have possibly been overturned.<\/p>\n However, the case did get a generous response from many notable figures and outlets showing their advocacy for victims of sexual assault, and speaking out against the current culture.<\/p>\n The cast of HBO\u2019s Girls <\/i>created a brilliant message, entitled Why We\u2019re So Quick To Disbelieve<\/a>, in an effort to combat efforts to attack victim testimony in these cases.<\/p>\n USA swimming banned Turner for life and released the statement, “USA Swimming condemns the crime and actions committed by Brock Turner, and all acts of sexual misconduct,” USA Swimming spokesman Scott Leightman told ABC News<\/a>. “Brock Turner is not a member of USA Swimming and, should he apply, he would not be eligible for membership.<\/p>\n Last but not least, as a result of the media outcry, California has moved to set a minimum amount of time to be served in sexual assault cases.<\/p>\n I truly hope that this case serves to set the stage for a movement towards more victim advocacy and support versus simple storytelling.<\/p>\n Media outlets\u00a0should\u00a0stand by victims of injustice\u00a0with confidence and solidarity, without fear of being “biased,” actively seeking justice on the behalf of deserving survivors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By NYAH TENNELL Twenty-year-old Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University was arrested Jan. 18, 2015, after two graduate students discovered him on top of an unconscious woman outside Kappa Alpha fraternity at approximately 1 a.m. Following the incident, … Continue reading