Judge Aaron Persky Petition: Close To 1.5 Million People Join Effort To Remove Judge Whose Lenient Sentence To Stanford Rapist Brock Turner Sparked Outrage

Judge Aaron Persky is under growing pressure, with now close to 1.5 million people signing on in an effort to disbar the California judge whose lenient sentence to rapist Brock Turner sparked a nationwide outrage.

Turner was convicted of sexual assault on an unconscious young woman that stemmed from a January 2015 attack. The Stanford University student, a standout swimmer, was apprehended in the act after two graduate students came across the assault and chased Turner down, tackling him and pinning him to the ground until police arrived.

Despite the conviction, Judge Aaron Persky sentenced Turner to just six months in a county jail. The verdict sparked outrage nationwide, leading to calls of favoritism toward Turner given his status as a top collegiate swimmer.

Adding to the controversy was a letter from Turner’s father to Judge Persky asking for leniency and saying that his son’s life “will never be the one that he dreamed about and worked so hard to achieve. That is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action out of his 20-plus years of life.”

There is now a growing effort to remove Persky from the bench, with a number of petitions aiming to oust him. A Change.org petition calling on the California assembly to start impeachment hearings against Judge Persky has topped one million signatures, and a separate petition from MoveOn.org has close to 200,000 signatures. Another on WhiteHouse.gov has close to 120,000 signatures.

Many of the petitions noted the seeming lack of remorse from Brock Turner, who chose to take the case to a trial that brought the victim into the spotlight, leading to many probing questions about her sexual past and her actions on the night in question. The victim admitted to drinking too much but railed against Turner and his attorney for suggesting that she consented or that she held some fault for the rape.

The Change.org petition noted that Persky seemed to ignore Turner’s lack of remorse in sentencing.

“Despite a unanimous guilty verdict, three felony convictions, the objections of 250 Stanford students, Jeff Rosen the district attorney for Santa Clara, as well as the deputy district attorney who likened Turner to ” a predator searching for prey” Judge Persky allowed the lenient sentence suggested by the probation department. Turner has shown no remorse and plans to attempt to overturn his conviction.”

And amid the drama, Persky was re-appointed to the bench this week, a six-year term after running for the position unopposed.

There is a chance the petition to remove Judge Aaron Persky may not be needed. Stanford law professor Michele Dauber said it’s unlikely that Persky will be able to play out his six-year term, predicting that he will be removed in a recall election.

“His victory will be short-lived,” Dauber told USA Today. “I am 100 percent confident we will recall him. His decision hit every woman in the state of California in the gut.”

Dauber herself is leading the effort, creating a website that has already raised thousands of dollars toward the recall. She is also working toward gaining the 70,000 signatures needed to officially kick off the recall efforts.

Other members of the legal community in the Bay Area are turning on Judge Aaron Persky. District Attorney Jeff Rosen slammed the ruling, USA Today noted, though he stopped short of supporting an effort to recall Persky.

“The predatory offender has failed to take responsibility, failed to show remorse and failed to tell the truth,” Rosen said. “The sentence does not factor in the true seriousness of this sexual assault, or the victim’s ongoing trauma. Campus rape is no different than off-campus rape. Rape is rape.”

Jurors Are Refusing to Serve Under Stanford Rape Trial's Judge Aaron Persky https://t.co/0ezc1iBZDM

— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) June 10, 2016

Prospective Jurors Boycott Judge Aaron Persky As 1 Million People Demand His Recall https://t.co/OxWFPEMAVC

— Political Pace (@PoliticalPace) June 10, 2016

Even if the petitions do not oust Judge Aaron Persky from the bench, the legal system may do it for him. There are reports that prospective jurors are now refusing to be seated in Persky’s court, which could force faster action on his potential removal.

[Image via Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Office]