California lawmakers,
responding to outrage over the six-month jail term given to a former Stanford
University swimmer after his conviction for sexually assaulting an unconscious
woman, passed legislation on Monday closing a loophole that allowed the
sentence.
The bill now goes to
Democratic Governor Jerry Brown for his approval. He has not indicated whether
he will sign it into law.
The measure was introduced in
response to the sentence given to 20-year-old Brock Turner by Santa Clara
County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in June, which was widely condemned as
too lenient.
Prosecutors had asked that
Turner be given six years in state prison. He is scheduled to be released on
Friday from jail in Northern California.
"Sexually assaulting an
unconscious or intoxicated victim is a terrible crime and our laws need to
reflect that," Democratic Assemblyman Bill Dodd, a co-author of the
legislation, said in a written statement following its passage.
Turner was convicted of
assault with intent to commit rape, penetration of an intoxicated person and
penetration of an unconscious person in the January 2015 attack. Under
California law, those charges are not considered rape because they did not
involve penile penetration.
The uproar over the sentence,
fueled in part by the victim's harrowing letter in which she detailed the
assault in graphic terms, comes amid growing outrage over sexual assault on
U.S. college campuses.
“This bill is about more than
sentencing, it’s about supporting victims and changing the culture on our
college campuses to help prevent future crimes," Dodd said.
The case has also led to
efforts to remove Persky from the bench. Earlier this month, the judge asked
for a transfer to civil court.
According to the legislators,
current California law calls for a mandatory prison term in cases of rape or
sexual assault where force is used, but not when the victim is unconscious or
severely intoxicated and thus unable to resist.
The bill, which faced no
serious opposition in the Democratic-controlled legislature, would eliminate a
judge's discretion to sentence defendants convicted of such crimes to
probation. Under its provisions, Turner would have faced a minimum of three
years behind bars.
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