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Brock Turner to be released on Friday

Convicted rapist and ex-Stanford student Brock Turner who is in the midst of serving a six month jail sentence for his crimes, will be released this Friday September 2nd after only three months behind bars. Whaaaaaaat? I hear you cry […]

Convicted rapist and ex-Stanford student Brock Turner who is in the midst of serving a six month jail sentence for his crimes, will be released this Friday September 2nd after only three months behind bars.

Whaaaaaaat? I hear you cry in confusion. How can this be? Isn’t he the guy that sexually assaulted an unconscious and intoxicated woman behind a dumpster? Yep! He’s that guy. But according to prison records and local media, Turner has had good behaviour and has not had prior convictions, so is going to be released early.

In March, Turner was found guilty of intent to commit rape of an intoxicated / unconscious person, penetration of an unconscious person, and penetration of an intoxicated person. Yet his jail sentence was a meagre six months. This insultingly short sentence, which was no where near the six year sentence the prosecutor was hoping for, caused a major global uproar.

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The judge’s decision caused a snowballing of both hate and support towards Turner from across the world. The victim’s impact statement which was published online and the letters of support for Turner from friends and family all started a huge discussion around rape and the punishment rapists receive. Much of which, it turns out, depends largely on one’s gender, race, class and swimming ability. Turner’s swimming talent was a major argument for why he could never have committed such a crime.

The one saving grace of this whole debacle is that Turner will be registered as a sexual offender for the rest of his life. But this time next week he will be free. I doubt the victim feels the same. Injustice strikes again.