The beginning of the end for the first California judge recalled since 1932 began almost exactly two years ago, when Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sentenced former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail instead of a long prison term for sexual assault.

A statement from the victim captured the national spotlight, recounting the ordeal of the investigation and trial, where she was cross-examined about her drinking habits and sexual experience.

"You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today," she said in a statement read in court before the June 2016 sentencing.

Within days, a politically connected Stanford law professor who was friends with the victim launched a campaign to recall the judge.

Santa Clara County voters agreed Tuesday, ousting Persky from office after nearly 15 years on the bench.

"The broader message of this victory is that violence against women is now a voting issue," said Michele Dauber, an outspoken women's rights campus activist who launched the recall effort.

She said the vote will resonate nationally and underscores the staying power of the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct that has brought a reckoning in politics, entertainment, business and elsewhere.

"This is a historical moment in time. Women are standing up for their rights, and there is a national reckoning," Dauber said.

Persky, who declined to comment Tuesday, said repeatedly that he couldn't discuss the case that spurred the recall because Turner has appealed his conviction. But in a lengthy interview with The Associated Press last month, he said he didn't regret the decision and was taken aback by the reaction.

"I expected some negative reaction," Persky said. "But not this."

Persky said he was adopting the probation department's recommendation to spare Turner from prison for several reasons, including his age, clean criminal record and the fact that Turner and the victim were intoxicated.

"The problem with this recall is it will pressure judges to follow the rule of public opinion as opposed to the rule of law," he said.

The California Commission on Judicial Performance ruled that he handled the case legally. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen didn't appeal the sentence.

The case sparked a national debate over the criminal justice system's treatment of sexual assault victims and racial inequities in court.

Persky is white and holds undergraduate degrees from Stanford and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Many complained Persky showed too much deference to Turner, a white Stanford scholarship athlete whose parents could afford a private attorney.

Activists pointed to numerous other cases in which minorities faced much harsher sentences for less egregious crimes.

The victim, who came to be known as Emily Doe, testified that she was passed out behind a trash can when two men saw Turner on top of her. The Swedish graduate students yelled at Turner to stop and then chased him and held him down for police when tried to flee.

The Associated Press generally doesn't identify sexual assault victims.

Persky said he took the victim's experience into account when sentencing Turner. But the judge said the publicity of Turner's arrest and trial and his loss of a swimming scholarship also factored into the sentence. Turner also is required to register for life as a sex offender.

Persky cited numerous letters of support that friends, former teachers and employers wrote on behalf of Turner.

"I think you have to take the whole picture in terms of what impact imprisonment has on a specific individual's life," Persky said during sentencing.

Judge who sentenced Brock Turner ousted amid #MeToo movement

By PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The beginning of the end for the first California judge recalled since 1932 began almost exactly two years ago, when Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky sentenced former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail instead of a long prison term for sexual assault.

A statement from the victim captured the national spotlight, recounting the ordeal of the investigation and trial, where she was cross-examined about her drinking habits and sexual experience.

"You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today," she said in a statement read in court before the June 2016 sentencing.

Within days, a politically connected Stanford law professor who was friends with the victim launched a campaign to recall the judge.

Santa Clara County voters agreed Tuesday, ousting Persky from office after nearly 15 years on the bench.

"The broader message of this victory is that violence against women is now a voting issue," said Michele Dauber, an outspoken women's rights campus activist who launched the recall effort.

She said the vote will resonate nationally and underscores the staying power of the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct that has brought a reckoning in politics, entertainment, business and elsewhere.

"This is a historical moment in time. Women are standing up for their rights, and there is a national reckoning," Dauber said.

Persky, who declined to comment Tuesday, said repeatedly that he couldn't discuss the case that spurred the recall because Turner has appealed his conviction. But in a lengthy interview with The Associated Press last month, he said he didn't regret the decision and was taken aback by the reaction.

"I expected some negative reaction," Persky said. "But not this."

Persky said he was adopting the probation department's recommendation to spare Turner from prison for several reasons, including his age, clean criminal record and the fact that Turner and the victim were intoxicated.

"The problem with this recall is it will pressure judges to follow the rule of public opinion as opposed to the rule of law," he said.

The California Commission on Judicial Performance ruled that he handled the case legally. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen didn't appeal the sentence.

The case sparked a national debate over the criminal justice system's treatment of sexual assault victims and racial inequities in court.

Persky is white and holds undergraduate degrees from Stanford and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Many complained Persky showed too much deference to Turner, a white Stanford scholarship athlete whose parents could afford a private attorney.

Activists pointed to numerous other cases in which minorities faced much harsher sentences for less egregious crimes.

The victim, who came to be known as Emily Doe, testified that she was passed out behind a trash can when two men saw Turner on top of her. The Swedish graduate students yelled at Turner to stop and then chased him and held him down for police when tried to flee.

The Associated Press generally doesn't identify sexual assault victims.

Persky said he took the victim's experience into account when sentencing Turner. But the judge said the publicity of Turner's arrest and trial and his loss of a swimming scholarship also factored into the sentence. Turner also is required to register for life as a sex offender.

Persky cited numerous letters of support that friends, former teachers and employers wrote on behalf of Turner.

"I think you have to take the whole picture in terms of what impact imprisonment has on a specific individual's life," Persky said during sentencing.

</s>(SAN FRANCISCO) — Northern California voters on Tuesday recalled a judge from office after he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence instead of prison.

Voters opted to oust Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky. The judge was targeted for recall in June 2016 shortly after he sentenced Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a young woman outside a fraternity house on campus. Prosecutors argued for a 7-year prison sentence.

Turner is also required to register for life as a sex offender. He was released from jail for good behavior after serving three months. He now lives with his parents near Dayton, Ohio.

The judge was following a recommendation from the county probation department, and the California Commission on Judicial Performance ruled that he handled the case legally. Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen didn’t appeal the sentence. Rosen also opposed the recall, though he said the sentence was too lenient.

The case sparked a national debate over the criminal justice system’s treatment of sexual assault victims and racial inequities in court. Persky is white and holds undergraduate degrees from Stanford and a law degree from the University of California, Berkeley. Many complained Persky showed too much deference to Turner, a white Stanford scholarship athlete whose parents could afford a private attorney.

The election was viewed as one of the first electoral tests of the #MeToo movement’s political clout.

The victim’s statement read in court before Turner’s sentence was published online and circulated widely on social media. Known as Emily Doe in court, the statement focused a national spotlight on the local recall effort.

“You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today,” she read. She also recounted the ordeal of the investigation and Turner’s trial, where she was cross-examined about her drinking habits and sexual experience.

“Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney’s questions that would be invasive, aggressive, and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers,” she read.

The Associated Press doesn’t general identify victims of sexual crimes.

Citing judicial ethics, Persky has declined to discuss the case in detail because Turner has appealed. But Persky told The Associated Press in an interview that he has no regrets over how he handled the case or his courtroom.

Early returns showed Santa Clara County assistant district attorney Cindy Seeley Hendrickson leading in the race to replace the judge.</s>SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Northern California voters are deciding whether to remove a judge from office for the first time in decades because he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence instead of prison.

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky would be the first California judge recalled from office since 1932 if a majority of voters choose to remove him on Tuesday.

Stanford University Law professor Michele Dauber launched the recall effort in June 2016 shortly after Persky sentenced Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a young woman outside a fraternity house on campus. Turner was released from jail for good behavior after serving three months. He is required to register for life as a sex offender.

FILE - In this May 15, 2018 file photo, Judge Aaron Persky poses for photos in Los Altos Hills, Calif. Persky says he would handle the sexual assault case of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner the same way today as he did almost exactly two years ago, even though it's the reason why he is the target of a June 5 recall election in Santa Clara County. Persky sentenced Turner to six months in jail. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

The judge was following a recommendation from the county probation department, but the case has turned into one of the first electoral tests of the #MeToo movement's political clout.

The case garnered international attention after BuzzFeed published the eloquent statement the victim, known as Emily Doe, read before Turner was sentenced. The Associated Press doesn't general identify victims of sexual crimes.

"You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today," she read. She also recounted the ordeal of the investigation and Turner's trial, where she was cross-examined about her drinking habits and sexual experience.

"Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney's questions that would be invasive, aggressive, and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers," she read.

Critics complained that Persky's sentence was too lenient and discounted sexual assault while also underscoring the inequity of the criminal justice system. Turner, a white male from an upper middle-class neighborhood, was represented by an attorney his family hired rather than a court-appointed public defender.

Citing judicial ethics, Persky has declined to discuss the case in detail because Turner has appealed. But Persky told The Associated Press in an interview that he has no regrets over how he handled the case or his courtroom.

Personal injury attorney Angela F. Storey and Santa Clara County assistant district attorney Cindy Seeley Hendrickson are vying to replace Persky if he is recalled.

FILE - In this May 15, 2018 file photo, Judge Aaron Persky poses for a photo with a sign opposing his recall in Los Altos Hills, Calif. Northern California voters are deciding on Tuesday, June 5 whether to remove Persky from office for the first time in decades because he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence instead of prison. Persky would be the first California judge recalled from office since 1932 if a majority of voters choose to remove him on Tuesday. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)

FILE - In this June 10, 2016 file photo, Stanford law professor Michele Dauber speaks at a rally before activists delivered over one million signatures to the California Commission on Judicial Performance calling for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky from the bench in San Francisco. Persky is facing a recall election after he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer to a short jail sentence for sexual assault. Persky would be the first California judge recalled from office since 1932 if a majority of voters choose to remove him on Tuesday, June 5, 2018. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)</s>Santa Clara County, California (CNN) Voters appeared to hand down a sentence of their own Tuesday to recall controversial Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in California.

With 88% of the precincts reporting , almost 60% of voters said they wanted to oust Persky. About 40% said he should stay in office.

If the recall is successful, it would be the first time since 1932 that California voters opted to recall a sitting judge.

Persky gained national notoriety in June 2016 when he sentenced former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail for the sexual assault of an unconscious woman -- a sentence many argued was far too lenient.

As election results started coming in Tuesday night, the chair of the Recall Persky Campaign -- Michele Dauber -- issued a statement saying "we are cautiously optimistic."

"Tonight's results mirror what we heard while we were out talking to voters," Dauber said. "We are thankful for our supporters and every person who donated their time -- it truly made a difference."

In a rare interview with CNN last week, Persky argued a successful recall effort wouldn't just affect him -- it would likely to set a dangerous precedent for judges in the future.

"I think generally judges should accept criticism," Persky said. "They should accept responsibility for rulings. But when it gets to the step of a recall -- actually recalling a judge primarily based on one decision -- that, for me, is a step too far.

"That's why I've chosen to speak out because I think it threatens the independence of judges in California and perhaps even the nation."

Prosecutors had asked for a six-year prison sentence, but Persky agreed with the recommendation from the county probation department, which noted that, "When compared to other crimes of similar nature" the Turner case "may be considered less serious due to (his) level of intoxication."

Critics immediately pounced and accused Persky of going easy on Turner because of his commonalities with the defendant. Like Turner, Persky was also a Stanford athlete. (He played lacrosse.)

Matthew Kells posted a sign in front of his house reading, "Vote yes to recall Judge Persky."

"I felt like that (sentence) was just not a right response for it. This was such an egregious crime," Kells said.

"This was as bad as it gets. Having this guy in charge of these decisions just seems ludicrous."

Still, the case may have faded from the national spotlight had it not been for the emotionally searing letter the victim read to Turner at sentencing. Within days, it went viral on the internet.

"You don't know me, but you've been inside me, and that's why we're here today," the letter began.

"You made me a victim. In newspapers my name was 'unconscious intoxicated woman,' 10 syllables, and nothing more than that. For a while, I believed that that was all I was."

Critics of Persky, who has been on the bench since 2003, find it ironic that his judicial background also included work as a sex crimes prosecutor.

In other words, he helped incarcerate people like Turner, 22, who now lives near Dayton, Ohio, and is required to register annually for life as a sex offender.

That's a penalty so burdensome that if Turner were to have children someday, he wouldn't be able to get near their school. Supporters of Persky often point to this fact.</s>California voters on Tuesday backed the recall of the judge who sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer to six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a campus dumpster — a sentence blasted by critics as far too lenient.

Judge Aaron Persky of State Superior Court in Santa Clara County has said he was following the rule of law, not public opinion, when he imposed the six-month jail term on Brock Turner, then 20, in 2016. But in the eyes of many critics, the judge had seemed to discount the seriousness of campus sexual assault and the pain of the victim.

With 61 percent of precincts reporting, 59 percent of voters favored removing Persky, and 41 percent were opposed.

Turner was convicted of three felonies — two for digitally penetrating an unconscious or intoxicated person, one for assault with intent to commit rape. Prosecutors pushed for a six-year sentence in state prison, but Persky followed the county probation department recommendation of just six months in jail.

Turner was released after serving three months for good behavior, and he must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

The recall campaign was spearheaded by Michele Dauber, a professor at Stanford Law School who says she is a family friend of the victim, who is only known as Emily Doe.

In a statement, Dauber hailed the success of the recall, calling it a vote "against impunity for high status perpetrators of sexual assault and domestic violence, including college athletes."

"We voted that sexual violence, including campus sexual violence, must be taken seriously by our elected officials, and by the justice system," she said.

Doe, who has kept her true identity private, has not spoken publicly about the recall effort. But in an essay for Glamour in November 2016, she wrote: "When we all make it a priority to avoid harming or violating another human being, and when we hold accountable those who do, when the campaign to recall this judge declares that survivors deserve better, then we are going somewhere."

In recent months, the campaign to kick Persky off the bench sowed conflict among lawyers, academics, feminists and criminal justice activists across California. The effort's critics said recalling the judge would have a chilling effect on judicial independence and perpetuate mass incarceration by prodding judges to give harsher sentences.

Dauber and her allies claimed that Persky demonstrated a clear pattern of bias — a preference for male defendants accused of sexual misconduct, especially athletes — during his tenure on the bench. But anti-recall forces disputed that, saying Dauber had misrepresented Persky's track record.

The agency that oversees judicial discipline ruled in December 2016 that Persky committed no misconduct when he sentenced Turner, saying there was no evidence that he had displayed bias.

Dauber, for her part, dismissed that finding by the California Commission on Judicial Performance, calling it a "one-sided, closed-door procedure."</s>Northern California voters are deciding whether to remove a judge from office for the first time in decades because he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence instead of prison.

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky would be the first California judge recalled from office since 1932 if a majority of voters choose to remove him on Tuesday.

Stanford University Law professor Michele Dauber launched the recall effort in June 2016 shortly after Persky sentenced Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a young woman outside a fraternity house on campus. Turner was released from jail for good behavior after serving three months. He is required to register for life as a sex offender.

The judge was following a recommendation from the county probation department, but the case has turned into one of the first electoral tests of the #MeToo movement’s political clout.

The case garnered international attention after BuzzFeed published the eloquent statement the victim, known as Emily Doe, read before Turner was sentenced. The Associated Press doesn’t general identify victims of sexual crimes.

“You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today,” she read. She also recounted the ordeal of the investigation and Turner’s trial, where she was cross-examined about her drinking habits and sexual experience.

“Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney’s questions that would be invasive, aggressive, and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers,” she read.

Critics complained that Persky’s sentence was too lenient and discounted sexual assault while also underscoring the inequity of the criminal justice system. Turner, a white male from an upper middle-class neighborhood, was represented by an attorney his family hired rather than a court-appointed public defender.

Citing judicial ethics, Persky has declined to discuss the case in detail because Turner has appealed. But Persky told The Associated Press in an interview that he has no regrets over how he handled the case or his courtroom.

Personal injury attorney Angela F. Storey and Santa Clara County assistant district attorney Cindy Seeley Hendrickson are vying to replace Persky if he is recalled.</s>The California judge who evoked national outrage after sentencing Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail after his conviction for sexually assaulting an unconscious student was ousted from office Tuesday night following a tempestuous recall campaign, The Associated Press reported. Voters in Santa Clara County removed Superior Court Judge Aaron Perksy from the bench in a victory for the campaign that argued Persky’s leniency in the sexual assault case was an affront to the victim and all survivors. As of 12:30 Pacific Time, 59 per cent of voters supported recalling Persky, with 51 per cent of precincts reporting, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters.

Perksy, 56, had served on the court since 2003. His supporters had argued that removing a duly elected judge over disagreement with a controversial but lawful sexual assault sentence would both erode the democratic process and cause judges everywhere to impose lengthier sentences for fear of public backlash. “Tonight many, many voters voted against the culture of impunity for high-status perpetrators of sexual assault or domestic violence,” Michele Dauber, a Stanford University professor and chair of the Recall Judge Aaron Persky Campaign, told The Washington Post. “This election expresses clearly that sexual assault, sexual violence is serious and it has to be taken seriously by elected officials. It’s a historical moment when women across all sectors of society are standing up saying enough is enough.”

Persky could not immediately reached for comment. The recall effort Persky unfolded in the months after Turner was convicted of three felonies in connection with the sexual assault of a woman, identified only as Emily Doe, while she laid unconscious behind a dumpster after a party at a fraternity in 2015. At the time of the attack, Turner was a freshman on Stanford’s swim team. Doe’s victim-impact statement reverberated across the country with its piercing details recounting the horror of waking up in a hospital to learn she had potentially been penetrated by a stranger — and in her direct confrontation of Turner.

“You have dragged me through this hell with you, dipped me back into that night again and again,” she said. “You knocked down both our towers. I collapsed at the same time you did. Your damage was concrete, stripped of titles, degrees, enrolment. My damage was internal, unseen. I carry it with me.” Outrage over the case exploded after Perksy said he took the victim’s statement into account then sentenced Turner to six months in jail and three years’ probation in June 2016. He said he was following the advice of the probation department, which did not recommend prison time. Prosecutors had argued for a six-year prison sentence.

Turner was released after serving only three months. He was also required to register as a sex offender. Perksy said at the sentencing hearing that he considered the fact that Turner was drinking as a mitigating factor in his sentence. But some, including the Recall Judge Aaron Persky Campaign, charged that Turner’s status as an elite, white young athlete at a prestigious university also factored into Perksy’s decision to be lenient. In a statement submitted to the Santa Clara County Registrar and that appeared on the ballot, Persky defended himself by saying, “As a prosecutor, I fought vigorously for victims. As a judge, my role is to consider both sides. California law requires every judge to consider rehabilitation and probation for first-time offenders. It’s not always popular, but it’s the law, and I took an oath to follow it without regard to public opinion or my opinions as a former prosecutor.” Turner’s six-month jail sentence inspired the California legislature to reform its penal code to require judges to sentence sexual assault perpetrators to prison time rather than probation or jail, as in Turner’s case. The opposition to the recall effort — including the Santa Clara County district attorney, its presiding judge and multiple former judges — argued that this was the proper democratic response to the controversial jail sentence, rather than removing the judge himself. In a commentary in the Mercury Sun, the presiding judge, Patricia Lucas, and two former judges argued the recall threatened judges’ judicial independence. “It certainly appears the goal is to teach judges, all judges, some lessons: if you want to keep your job as a judge, keep an eye on media reports of public sentiment when you are exercising your sworn duty to sentence a defendant in light of the law and the facts,” they wrote. Tuesday’s vote marked the first time a California judge was recalled from the bench in 87 years, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.</s>PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) — Northern California voters are deciding whether to remove a judge from office for the first time in decades because he sentenced a former Stanford University swimmer convicted of sexual assault to a short jail sentence instead of prison.

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky would be the first California judge recalled from office since 1932 if a majority of voters choose to remove him on Tuesday.

Stanford University Law professor Michele Dauber launched the recall effort in June 2016 shortly after Persky sentenced Brock Turner to six months in jail for sexually assaulting a young woman outside a fraternity house on campus. Turner was released from jail for good behavior after serving three months. He is required to register for life as a sex offender.

The judge was following a recommendation from the county probation department, but the case has turned into one of the first electoral tests of the #MeToo movement's political clout.

Julie Duffield, 60, voted against recalling Persky, saying people should not take their anger about Turner's sentence out on the judge.

"I have two boys. I'm very much a feminist. I just don't think it's a solution," she said outside City Hall in Palo Alto, where she dropped off her mail-in ballot.

Brendan Erickson, 25, said he understood the argument that removing Persky could set a bad precedent, but said judge made "an incredibly poor decision." He voted to recall Persky.

"I have two little sisters, and I want them to feel safe," Erickson said.

The case garnered international attention after BuzzFeed published the eloquent statement of the victim, known as Emily Doe, read before Turner was sentenced. The Associated Press doesn't general identify victims of sexual crimes.

"You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today," she read. She also recounted the ordeal of the investigation and Turner's trial, where she was cross-examined about her drinking habits and sexual experience.

"Instead of taking time to heal, I was taking time to recall the night in excruciating detail, in order to prepare for the attorney's questions that would be invasive, aggressive, and designed to steer me off course, to contradict myself, my sister, phrased in ways to manipulate my answers," she read.

Critics complained that Persky's sentence was too lenient and discounted sexual assault while also underscoring the inequity of the criminal justice system. Turner, a white male from an upper middle-class neighborhood, was represented by an attorney his family hired rather than a court-appointed public defender.

Citing judicial ethics, Persky has declined to discuss the case in detail because Turner has appealed. But Persky told The Associated Press in an interview that he has no regrets over how he handled the case or his courtroom.

Personal injury attorney Angela F. Storey and Santa Clara County assistant district attorney Cindy Seeley Hendrickson are vying to replace Persky if he is recalled.</s>On Tuesday, voters in California's Santa Clara County are deciding the fate of Aaron Persky, the judge whose six-month sentence for convicted sexual assaulter Brock Turner prompted national outcry.

Women outraged by the lenient sentence have led a charge to recall Persky from his post, saying he is unfit to serve out the remaining four years of his term. Persky's defenders say that a recall would undermine judicial independence and might unintentionally lead to longer sentences for far less privileged felons.

Turner was convicted in 2016 of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster at a fraternity party when he was a student at Stanford University.

The crime could have been punished by up to 14 years in prison, as NPR's Tovia Smith has reported, but Persky, following the county probation department's recommendation, sentenced Turner to six months in county jail. He only served three months due to good behavior.

At the sentencing, Turner's victim read an eloquent statement about how the assault — and Turner's refusal to apologize for it — hurt her irreversibly.

Meanwhile, Persky said at the sentencing that "a prison sentence would have a severe impact on [Turner]."

Almost immediately, public support for a recall began to surge. Stanford law professor Michele Dauber, a family friend of Turner's victim, led a campaign that ultimately got the recall on the county ballot for Tuesday's vote.

Dauber spoke to NPR in 2016 and explained why she believes a recall is essential:



"Judge Persky is a criminal judge, one of the very few criminal judges, who has jurisdiction over Stanford. So that means that we would be waiting six more years in order to remove him according to the regular election process, and any sexual assaults that happen on the Stanford campus during that time would be highly unlikely to receive a prison sentence based on this precedent. So we think this is dangerous; we can't really let it go on for another six years. We need justice for women now."



LaDoris Cordell, a retired superior court judge in California, spoke to NPR in February and explained why she's opposed to the recall:



"I believe it is a dangerous threat to the independence of the judiciary ... [Persky] has no record of bias or misconduct. And I'm opposed to it because I believe this recall is terrible for racial justice. ... If it succeeds, it sends a message to every judge on every court in California and really beyond .... A lot of the defendants are young people, and mostly males, of color — Latino and African-American. They are the ones who are going to receive the sentencings of these judges who are going to be hesitant, if not fearful, to impose a leniency in a sentence."



If the recall effort is successful, Persky will be the first California judge to be recalled in more than 85 years. In 1932, three judges were recalled after an investigation found they exploited their posts for personal profit.

Persky says he has no regrets over the sentencing, The Associated Press reports.

He "stopped hearing criminal cases after the Turner uproar and now works from home as a night judge, issuing warrants and protective orders in domestic violence cases," the Los Angeles Times reports.

Meanwhile, Turner is appealing his conviction, arguing that not enough character witnesses were allowed to testify on his behalf.

The fight over whether to recall Persky has been bitter.

The Times reports that it has "fractured long-term friendships, divided the liberal Democratic community ... and pitted feminists against feminists."

It has also been expensive. The recall campaign has raised more than $1 million for the fight, while Persky's defenders have raised more than $800,000, the Palo Alto Daily Post reports.

Supporters of the recall allege that in addition to the Turner sentencing, Persky has demonstrated a pattern of leniency toward athletes and in cases involving sexual assault, other sex crimes or domestic violence.

The state's Commission on Judicial Performance investigated four cases that had been the subject of complaints and did not find a pattern of bias — but the recall campaign says the commission's report was "error-ridden."

Debates over the recall have, in some cases, become virulent arguments over the sexual assault itself. Some Persky backers defend the short sentence — and by extension, defend Turner.

One supporter argued that the assault case should never even have gone to trial, because he said it centered on "a nebulous sexual encounter" in which both participants were drunk. The recall campaigners are infuriated by such comments, and point to a pattern of victim-blaming by Turner apologists.

Last month, Jim McManis, who identified himself as a lawyer representing Persky, fueled even more outrage in a phone interview he gave to Vogue. McManis said that Turner's victim "was not attacked," and accused her of not writing her own victim statement.

Other Persky backers aren't interested in defending the six-month sentence. It might have been inappropriate, even unjust, they say — but it wasn't illegal, and a recall in response could have unintended consequences, they warn.

Jeffrey Rosen, the district attorney who prosecuted Turner, says he "vehemently opposed" the sentence the judge imposed — in fact, after the case ended, Rosen says he helped the state create a law that sets mandatory minimum prison sentences for similar sexual assaults.

But the original sentence was lawful at the time Persky imposed it. So Rosen, like retired Judge LaDoris Cordell, opposes the recall. He writes:



The Recall Aaron Persky campaign has responded to concerns over judicial independence in a statement that reads, in part, "California judges are accountable to voters, and that means considering judges' previous decisions. ... It is up to the voters to determine whether or not Judge Persky continues in office, and the voters may consider his history on the bench including his decisions in making their determination."

In a statement released last week, the president of the Santa Clara County Bar Association, Kevin Hammon, focuses on the possible consequences for other, less privileged criminals.

Hammon says there is a "special danger" in punishing a judge for being lenient because it sends a message to other judges, exacerbating over-incarceration and precluding "a thoughtful consideration of individualized circumstances."

He raises the example of abusive or neglectful parents who have experienced traumas or are struggling with addiction. People who have "done terrible things" can meaningfully change their lives, he writes. But a judge would have to give them that chance — and from the outside, that might look like "leniency." The recall effort might suggest to judges that such decisions would put their jobs in jeopardy, Hammon says.

"I will vote against the recall because I value rehabilitation," Hammon writes.

The recall campaign has responded to such arguments by saying it's possible to recall Persky, in order to support women who are victims of sexual violence, while also advocating for criminal justice reform, including reducing mass incarceration.

"Both are important and justice is not zero sum," the campaign writes.</s>Two years since former Stanford student Brock Turner was sentenced to just six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, voters in Santa Clara County, California, voted to recall the judge who sentenced him.

Judge Aaron Persky of the Santa Clara County Superior Court will promptly be replaced by Cindy Hendrickson, an assistant district attorney who supported the recall effort. It is the first successful recall of a California judge since 1932.

Early results on Tuesday night showed that 59 percent of voters opted to recall Persky, while 41 percent voted to keep the judge. “Tonight’s results mirror what we heard while we were out talking to voters,” Recall Persky campaign chair Michele Dauber said in a statement. “We are thankful for our supporters and every person who donated their time—it truly made a difference.”

Retired judge LaDoris Cordell, a leader in the anti-recall effort, told KPIX on Tuesday night that the successful recall threatened judges’ independence. “A good judge has lost his job for doing his job,” Cordell said. “This does not bode well for the judiciary in California, and maybe for the rest of the country.”

In January 2015, Turner, a freshman from an affluent Ohio town, assaulted a young woman known as Emily Doe after meeting her at a fraternity party. He was caught and detained by passersby who spotted him on top of the unconscious young woman behind a dumpster. In March 2016, a jury convicted Turner of three felony counts, including assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated or unconscious person, penetration of an intoxicated person, and penetration of an unconscious person.

Turner’s case gained national attention after he his sentencing hearing on June 2, 2016, when BuzzFeed News published in full the powerful 7,000-word impact statement Doe read out loud to her attacker in court. “You took away my worth, my privacy, my energy, my time, my safety, my intimacy, my confidence, my own voice, until today,” she said. “In newspapers my name was ‘unconscious intoxicated woman’, ten syllables, and nothing more than that. For a while, I believed that that was all I was. I had to force myself to relearn my real name, my identity. To relearn that this is not all that I am.”

In a statement, Turner largely blamed alcohol and “sexual promiscuity” for the assault, saying he never meant to hurt Doe: “I made a mistake, I drank too much, and my decisions hurt someone.”

Persky listened to both statements before following the recommendations of a probation officer’s report and sentencing Turner to six months in county jail. In doing so, he made an exception to usual sentencing practices, citing the “severe impact” prison time would have on a 20-year-old with no significant criminal history. Under a California provision that provides offenders with one day of “good behavior” for each day served, Turner would be released in about three months. He was also required to register as a sex offender.

Meanwhile, Doe’s statement on BuzzFeed racked up more than 8 million views in four days, sparked protests at Stanford’s commencement, and prompted Vice President Joe Biden to write an open letter in response.

A backlash was brewing against Persky. Some prospective jurors scolded him in his courtroom. An online petition to remove the judge from the bench surpassed 1 million signatures in about a week. Dauber, a Stanford Law School professor, longtime sexual assault advocate, and family friend of the victim, launched a recall campaign and tasked a teaching assistant with digging up past Persky decisions that might demonstrate a pattern of bias against survivors of sexual assault. (Read more about Dauber in this nuanced profile by Julia Ioffe in Highline.) Complaints about Persky’s choices in the Turner case and several others poured into the California Commission on Judicial Performance; its investigation did not find “clear and convincing” evidence that the decisions were the result of bias. The recall campaign ultimately raised more than $1 million and collected far more than the 58,634 signatures it needed to put Persky’s name on the June 5 ballot.

Tuesday’s vote is a signal of growing intolerance for entrenched systems—courts, Hollywood, human resources departments—that allow perpetrators, especially privileged ones like Turner, off the hook for sexual violence. Soon after Persky handed down his sentence, Dauber told Mother Jones that the decision sent a message to survivors: “‘You’re on your own. Don’t bother to call police or report.’ And the message to potential perpetrators is: ‘You don’t have to take this stuff seriously. Don’t worry, we have your back.”

It’s also an indication of women’s voting power. While the gender divide of the final vote is not known, a May 22 poll by a San Francisco TV station indicated a vast split between men and women on the recall effort. “If just men were voting, Persky would keep his job by 3 points,” KPIX reported. “If only women voted, he would lose by 26 points.”

Opponents of the recall—which included the bulk of the Santa Clara County legal community—campaigned on a message of judicial independence, arguing that firing Persky would induce other judges to hand down harsher sentences. A week before Election Day, Persky broke his relative silence in an interview with CBS News, explaining that he was worried about the influence of social-media outrage on judges and jurors who believe an unpopular decision is the right one. “If a judge is thinking in the back of his or her mind, ‘How is this going to look? How will it look on social media? Will I be vilified on cable news?’ That’s the wrong avenue,” he said.

The unusual public campaign against Persky likely has sent the message to other judges that, as the Brennan Center’s deputy director for program management Alicia Bannon put it, “if we’re not happy with your sentencing decisions, you could be next.'” Meanwhile, the Turner case has already led to harsher sentencing: A few months after Doe’s statement went viral, California legislators passed a bill, signed by Gov. Jerry Brown, requiring prison time for anyone convicted of sexual penetration of an unconscious or intoxicated person—which previously had not been mandatory. If he were considering Turner’s case today, Persky could not hand down the same sentence.

Yet when asked by CBS News if the rise of the #MeToo movement and the growing understanding of the effects of sexual assault on survivors would have changed his decision in the Turner case, Persky demurred. “Generally,” he said, “the answer is absolutely not.”
Voters in Santa Clara County, California vote to recall Judge Aaron Persky after he sentenced a swimmer convicted of sexual assault to six months in jail in 2016.