Brock Turner was released this morning after serving only three months in jail for raping a girl who passed out behind a dumpster at a campus party. Earlier this month, 18 year old David Becker was charged with two counts of rape, and instead of jail time, he received two years of probation. These cases, although recent, are not anything new to our judicial system. It’s become normal for us to roll our eyes at the latest headlines, about young white men assaulting women because they exercised their right to say no.
Many arguments for not convicting these young men to the fullest extent of the law, include not wanting to ruin their academic careers. They parade around the fact that these men have scholarships or are great athletes, which shows the jurors and the American public that they have discipline and potential. We fail to realize or understand that you can be successful in school and still commit rape, the two aren’t mutually exclusive.
- David Becker’s Lawyer characterized the assault as a “teen mistake”. Thomas Rooke, Becker’s attorney, also said “putting this kid in jail for two years would have destroyed this kid’s life…The goal of this sentence was not to impede this individual from graduating high school and to go onto the next step of his life, which is a college experience.”
- Meanwhile, Brian Banks, a former football star, got five years in jail for rape he didn’t commit. Did I mention he is black? Brian Turner also added, “I would say it’s a case of privilege… He’s lived such a good life and has never experienced anything serious in his life that would prepare him for prison… What about the kid who has nothing, he struggles to eat, struggles to get a fair education?… Where is the consideration for them when they commit a crime?”
These arguments, that often win cases, are not reasons but trivial excuses that deny justice for the victim.Victims are often cheated out of justice when judges decide the well being and future of the one convicted of rape, is more important than the long term effects of trauma endured by the victim themselves.
Young girls learn to hold their keys between their knuckles, before they learn how to cross the street. There is no doubt we should involve the privilege these young men sit upon, with their promising college careers, and USA swimming memberships. This article won’t have room for the argument of “not all white men rape!” because that’s obvious, but rather how white men have access to an advantage that can dismiss a case so traumatizing for a victim of sexual assault.
