Disgusting: Brock Turner Out of Jail After Serving Only Half of His Six-Month Sentence
When white privilege reaches new, brazen and disgusting levels.
How else would you describe ex-Stanford swimmer Brock Turner being released from jail Friday morning after only serving half of his six-month sentence for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman near a trash bin after a frat party during a January 2015 incident?
Despite the national outcry that accompanied this case, Turner, 21, walked right out of Santa Clara County jail this morning — three months earlier than expected — and dodged reporters' questions, before getting into an SUV, the Associated Press reported.
According to the AP, he will move in with his parents in his native Ohio and be required to register as a sex offender for life, while also receiving up to three years of supervised probation.
The news of his sudden release infuriated social media Friday, making Brock Turner a trending topic on Twitter once again.
Upon Turner's release, Santa Clara County sheriff Laurie Smith divulged that Brock had received threats and hate mail, while in jail.
"There was a lot of hate," Smith told the AP.
She added that "he should be in prison right now."
California passed a stiffer sexual assault bill Monday that would trigger mandatory prison sentences for the same crime that Turner committed. Smith urged Governor Jerry Brown to sign it. As of Friday afternoon, Brown hasn't revealed whether he will sign.
Friday morning's sudden jail release has to spell great sadness for the victim, who already had to state that Turner's athletic career shouldn't be considered during his sentencing.
"How fast Brock swims does not lessen the severity of what happened to me, and should not lessen the severity of his punishment," the victim had previously said, as reported by the AP. "The fact that Brock was an athlete at a private university should not be seen as an entitlement to leniency, but as an opportunity to send a message that sexual assault is against the law regardless of social class."
If you've been following this case, Turner originally faced up to 14 years for his egregious act and prosecutors had asked the judge for him to serve at least six years behind bars.
Instead, Turner was sentenced to only six months and released after serving three months.
Where's the justice? If that's not white privilege — specifically, white male privilege — we don't know what is.
Remember, this was the same case that had Brock's father, Dan Turner, penning a shocking letter to the judge, disgustingly stating that incarceration "is a steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action" and that the drama from the trial made his son lose his appetite for steaks.
Unreal.
What are your thoughts?