The measure was introduced in response to the six-month sentence given to Turner by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in June. Turner is being released Friday after only three months in jail for a crime which holds a maximum sentence of 14 years.
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At Friday’s scheduled release, Turner, 19, will have only served half of his six-month sentence.
With Turner set to walk on September 2, California lawmakers passed a bill with a 66-0 bipartisan vote to impose mandatory prison sentences for rape and sexual assault.
Evan Low, one of the assemblymembers who introduced the bill, said in a statement on Monday that Persky’s ruling in Turner’s case “was unjustifiable and morally wrong, however, under current state law it was within his discretion”. The governor has yet to indicate if he will be signing the bill into law. While Turner also received three years of probation, the punishment paled in comparison to the six-year jail term requested by prosecutors.
As it stands, California law requires prison terms in convictions for rape and sexual assault, but those requirements don’t apply if the victim was unconscious or too impaired to resist.
Turner’s sentence brought a firestorm of protests.
Turner, a former top swimmer at Stanford University, was found guilty in March of three felony charges.
The case exploded into global headlines when the woman, after learning of Persky’s decision, read a letter addressed to Turner in court and provided the letter to Buzzfeed.
Assemblyman Bill Dodd, who helped write the legislation, said in a statement, “Sexually assaulting an unconscious or intoxicated victim is a awful crime, and our laws need to reflect that”.
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Michele Dauber, a Stanford law professor leading a campaign to recall Persky, told the Mercury News that “AB 2888 is a “common sense” adjustment”, adding, “We shouldn’t reward rapists just because they didn’t use force”.
