In the US,
there is no such thing as justice and no such thing as 'innocent until proven
guilty'. If you become caught up in the legal system in this country, it will
chew you up and spit you out unless you
are rich enough to afford the right lawyers.
Then there's
the good ole frat boys network. Let’s take a look at the Stanford rape case.
Did you know
that the judge in the case, Aaron Persky, attended Stanford as an undergrad? Did you also know that he was captain
of Stanford’s lacrosse team? By now, you know that the rapist, Brock Allen Turner,
was a champion swimmer who had been vigorously courted by Stanford while in
high school and was a scholarship student at Stanford when he raped Emily Doe. Mix in the
fact that the rapist’s rich daddy, Daniel A. Turner, is a blatant enabler (see highlighted passages in link) and rich enough to hire only the very best sharks and bottom feeders
lawyers, it becomes pretty clear that Emily Doe didn't stand a chance. Her
attacker was bound to get off with a slap on the wrist, and she would be figuratively raped
again by the legal system that should have given her the justice to which she
was entitled and adequate punishment to her rapist.
And that’s
exactly what happened. She was verbally raped on the stand by the pond scum
lawyers hired to defend her rapist who, when found unanimously guilty by a jury
of his peers on all charges, received a sentence that amounted to a mere slap on
the wrist. She was further abused by the rapist’s male progenitor, Daniel
Turner, when the rape perpetrated by his offspring was referred to as “20
minutes of action” on page 3 of Turner’s letter to the court requesting leniency for the
monster he raised and unleashed on society.
But, guess
what... There is a bright, shining light in this hellish morass, a light of
hope that shines for all those who have suffered the devastation of rape or sexual
assault of any degree. That light shines in the incredibly moving, heart and
gut wrenching, soul-searing, awe-inspiring, brave words written by Emily Doe in her victim impact statement to the
court. While it is extremely hard to read and may be a trigger for some, her letter is one that should be read by mothers to their sons and
fathers to their daughters. Emily Doe's eloquence has struck an incredible blow
in the war against the rape culture that permeates our society. Her words have
also shined a harsh light on a broken, misbegotten system that puts the victims
on trial and, for all intents and purposes, rapes them again in a court of law.
Emily Doe has
chosen to remain anonymous, and society should respect her wishes so that she is able to move on from this as best she can. May the light of her words shine as
the beacon of hope she wanted them to be.
"Lighthouses don't go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining." Emily Doe, 2016
