“We’re pleased that Judge Persky won’t be handling criminal matters at least temporarily … he can transfer back to hearing criminal matters at any time”, Michele Landis Dauber, a law professor who led a campaign to remove Persky, was quoted by the Guardian. The judge, who faces a recall campaign over the sentencing, will hear only civil cases from September 6, Presiding Judge Risë Jones Pichon wrote in a statement, CNN reports. And some people are really happy about it.
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Brock Allen Turner, a former Stanford University swimmer, was sentenced to six months in jail for the sexual assault of a drunken and unconscious woman at a fraternity party.
Persky could not immediately be reached for comment. “He has a long standing pattern, we believe, of bias particularly in cases of sex crimes, domestic violence, and violence against women”. “This publicity has resulted in a personal family situation such that a person aware of the facts might reasonably entertain a doubt that the judge would be able to be impartial”.
The reassignment is possible due to a request from another judge, Vincent Chiarello, to relocate to Palo Alto, according to the statement.
Persky’s decision – coupled with the gripping statement the victim read in court – has had an enormous ripple effect, bringing a renewed national focus to efforts to deter, report and punish campus sexual assaults.
Persky’s decision in the Turner case shocked the public and one juror even wrote a letter saying they were “absolutely shocked and appalled” at the six-month sentence. He formally recused himself Monday from deciding whether to reduce a San Jose plumber’s felony child pornography charges to misdemeanors.
On Wednesday, women’s group UltraViolet delivered pink slips to the California Commission on Judicial Performance, calling for Persky to be removed from the bench.
“Sentencing a felon convicted of such a crime to probation re-victimises the victim, discourages other victims from coming forward and sends the message that sexual assault of incapacitated victims is no big deal”, said California Assemblymember Bill Dodd, who introduced the measure in June.
The Palo Alto Weekly has created Storify pages to capture ongoing coverage of the Brock Turner case as well as sexual-assault issues at Stanford University. Judge Aaron Persky was subject to a recall campaign and a public outcry after he sentenced Turner to only a six-month jail sentence.
But the Turner case has also cast a dark shadow over Persky’s court.
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Authorities say Turner sexually assaulted a girl while she was passed out near a trash bin.
