The controversy over Brock Turner‘s lenient rape sentence keeps rolling as new revelations continue to go viral. The latest developments include Turner’s letter to the court, which absolved himself of responsibility while pointing the finger at alcohol and Stanford’s party culture. He received a paltry six-month sentence in a case where eyewitnesses pinned him down until police arrived. This, of course, stands in sad contrast to those who do serious hard time for crimes they didn’t even commit.
Turner is already in jail, although he’s been placed in protective custody to keep him away from fellow inmates. He’ll probably actually be released in four months, as “good behavior” credits have already been applied. Of course, there’s little chance of him acting up in jail while he’s under protective custody, right? Meanwhile, folks want justice, starting with the ridiculous and ending with the serious. First up, a coven of purported witches gathered (in a now-deleted Facebook posting) to cast an impotency spell on Turner:
Brock Allen Turner we hex you.
You will be impotent
You will know constant pain of pine needles in your guts
Food will bring you no sustenance
In water, your lungs will fail you
Sleep will only bring nightmares
Shame will be your mantle.
You will meet justice.
My witchcraft is strong. Our witchcraft is powerful. The spell will work. So Mote it be.
Well, then. Fortunately, there’s a more sober perspective to complete this roundup. GOP Texas Congressman Ted Poe brought up the subject on Capitol Hill. Poe previously authored a successful bill that takes measures against the sex-trafficking trade, and he sees a connected cause in the lenient treatment of a convicted rapist. Poe took the floor on Thursday morning to rail against Judge Aaron Persky, a Stanford alum who took pity upon Turner. Many have called for the judge’s removal from the bench, and Poe agrees that Persky must go. The congressman spoke out about how Turner should spend “longer than a semester in college” for raping an unconscious woman:
“This judge got it wrong … overturn the pathetic sentence and give him the punishment he deserves. The entitlement mentality of being a good college athlete and self-righteousness do not trump justice. The criminal has given her a life sentence of mental pain, anguish and turmoil. When rape occurs the criminal is trying to steal the very soul of the victim.”
Poe, who has done time as a criminal judge, continued to speak out against rape culture, which could be behind all of the defenses we’ve heard from Turner associates. Hell, Turner even blamed such a culture for his actions. Yet Poe reminds everyone that “rape is never the fault of the victim.” However, he’s pleased that Turner appealed his sentence because perhaps — just maybe — a higher court could actually increase his punishment.
Here’s video footage (courtesy of Raw Story) of Poe’s speech on the House floor.
(Via Us Weekly, Daily Mail & Raw Story)