There is an enormous double standard in out country today as there is no consistency when it comes to punishing people who break the law.
Reports are going around that former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner is being released from jail after serving three months of his six-month sentence for raping a college age woman for good behavior. He was convicted back on June 2, 2016, to serve six months of jail time in the Santa Clara County Jail. Once he was released, he would be placed on three years probation and would be ordered to register as a sex offender. This case became national news after the Judge who was overseeing this case gave the swimmer a very laughable sentence for something that ruined a person’s life. There have been petitions being filed to have Judge Aaron Persky removed from overseeing anymore of these types of cases.
When this story first broke, I found it disgusting that basically, they put him in “time-out” and brushed this under the rug. For starters, the fact that he only got six months is being sickening. Most of the time when it comes to a rape case, the person who does the rape usually gets about 25 years. However, it depends on the level of the rape that will determine how long the person is in jail. Second of all, this now will set a precedent for future cases that could get rapists off very easy. What I don’t understand and no one seems to be able to explain this part logically is why are people feeling sorry for Brock. He is the person who performed the act and is a monster.
I feel that is also most of the problem is that people feel sorry for the perpetrators who do this. I am aware that there has been a slew of incidents where the rape never happened, but there some that still happen. What I also find to be inexcusable is that people say when it comes to rape that she was asking for it. I am sorry, but that has to be the dumbest reasoning giving that I have heard about anything in a long time.
Another problem is we treat our athletes like they can do no wrong. When an athlete, does not matter if it is on the professional or collegiate level, breaks the law or does something wrong, the team or the school ends up turning a blind eye to the situation. When it comes to our athletes, we need to kick them off their high horse and treat them like everyone else. The only difference between an athlete and a regular person is that the athlete makes more money and has talent. This has been seen more on the collegiate site, and it is sickening. I disagree with the idea that simply because an athlete on a college team brings the school money, they should not be treated better simply for that reason.
I call out these Division 1 schools that feel that the athletes who bring them more money should be treated better. At the end of it all, they are still a college student. The whole situation with Brock Turner is one that was mishandled and could be problematic later on. I feel that Brock only serving three months did nothing. He gets to go on live his regular life, and the woman who he raped is still living in fear.
Overall, this was a horrible case of the United States justice system screwing up and protecting Brock Turner. If I had been overseeing this case, he would have been sentenced to prison for 25 years and a hefty fine.