Seargant James Jensen of the Department of Correction in San Jose, California has told an American magazine that Brock Turner’s sentence has been shortened from the original 6 month sentence for his sexual assault charge.
“The court system tells us when they should be released from our custody and that is September 2,” says Jensen.
Turner was booked June 2 and by the time he is released, he will have served 3 months. People have been protesting the short sentence, and the judge has already been petitioned to be recalled.
The judge, Aaron Perksy, has defended the sentence, saying that “A prison sentence would have a severe impact on him.… I think he will not be a danger to others.”
Many have attacked this statement, including Brian Banks, a black man who was wrongly convicted of rape and spent six years in jail for it, who thinks that the student’s ‘lifestyle’ and ‘privilege’ would have played a big part in choosing the lenient sentencing.
Banks told New York Daily News:
“I would say it’s a case of privilege. It seems like the judge based his decision on lifestyle. He’s lived such a good life and has never experienced anything serious in his life that would prepare him for prison. He was sheltered so much he wouldn’t be able to survive prison. What about the kid who has nothing, he struggles to eat, struggles to get a fair education? What about the kid who has no choice who he is born to and has drug-addicted parents or a non-parent household? Where is the consideration for them when they commit a crime?”
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