Brock Turner Sexual Assault Case Assignment Paper

Brock Turner Sexual Assault Case
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Institution
Brock Turner Sexual Assault Case
The Brock Turner case forms one of the most heated discussions in the field of criminal law in the recent past. Brock Turner, a 19 year old standout swimmer at Stanford was brought to court on a count of raping an intoxicated woman. During the proceedings of the case, it emerged that there was ample evidence to convict Turner of the accusation. Under the law, such an offense is supposed to carry a minimum of two years sentence. However, the presiding judge sentenced Turner to only six months in prison indicating that an extended sentence would disrupt the athlete’s professional career. This paper examines the judgment given by Aaron Persky was consistent with the Canons of Judicial Ethics that were adopted by the American Bar Association.
According to Canon 1 of the ABA Judicial Ethics, a judge is supposed to uphold the integrity and autonomy of the judiciary at all times. Since the judiciary is responsible for providing justice in the country, all the presiding judges are supposed to act in fairness and without favor at all times in order to improve the confidence that the society has on the courts. In this accord, an independent judiciary is one that is free of any outside influence. An attempt to go against this code violates the public confidence in the judiciary and as such brings harm to the government. Although the judge in this case cannot have been said to have been externally influenced, there is clear evidence that he failed to act as per the law since there was sufficient evidence to convict Turner of the crime. As per section 289 of the California Penal Code under which jurisdiction the case was prosecuted, any person who rapes an unconscious person is liable for a prison term of three, six, or eight years. In his sentencing, the presiding judge ignored this guidance and as such he cannot be said to have upheld the integrity of the court (American Bar Association, 2003).
According to the ABA Canon 2, a judge is expected to respect and adhere to the law and is supposed to act at all times in a way that promotes the confidence that the public has in the integrity and the impartiality of the judiciary. The case of Turner was identical to the case of Cory Batey a 19-year-old footballer who was convicted of raping an unconscious woman and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The reason why Batey was sentenced for this long period was because what he did was reprehensible and his crime was treated as such. By doing so, ...