title:  Rapist Gets Slap On The Wrist Sentence Because Prison Would Be Too ‘Severe’
text: Brock Allen Turner, a 20-year-old former student at Stanford University, was sentenced to six months in jail for raping an unconscious woman on campus in January 2015.The prosecutor in the case recommended that Turner should receive a sentence of six years in prison. However, judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail saying that  a prison sentence would have a severe impact on him   I think he will not be a danger to others.  Persky also cited Turner s lack of a criminal record and his young age as justifications for the short sentence.The victim in the case is a 23-year-old that had a blood-alcohol level that was twice the legal limit. She has no memory of the incident. Her testimony in the trial is public and is a powerful indictment of Turner s actions. The testimony begins with the 23-year-old woman saying  You don t know me, but you ve been inside me, and that s why we re here today.  She recounts the horror of having to find out that she was found with her clothes turn off from her behind a dumpster in public.During the testimony, she addressed Turner personally telling him that: You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today. I am a human being who has been irreversibly hurt. She concluded her testimony, speaking to all women who have been victims of sexual assault: And finally, to girls everywhere, I am with you. On nights when you feel alone, I am with you. When people doubt you or dismiss you, I am with you. I fought everyday for you. So never stop fighting, I believe you. As the author Anne Lamott once wrote,  Lighthouses don t go running all over an island looking for boats to save  they just stand there shining.  Although I can t save every boat, I hope that by speaking today, you absorbed a small amount of light, a small knowing that you can t be silenced, a small satisfaction that justice was served, a small assurance that we are getting somewhere, and a big, big knowing that you are important, unquestionably, you are untouchable, you are beautiful, you are to be valued, respected, undeniably, every minute of every day, you are powerful and nobody can take that away from you. To girls everywhere, I am with you. Thank you. It seems that in this case that the punishment did not fit the crime that was committed. What Turner did is not something that can be undone. Once again, the United States criminal system has been exposed as a cruel joke. It s a system where criminals get away with a slap on the wrist and non-violent offenders can be locked away for life.Featured image from Stanford University