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Indybay Feature

The Horror of the Prison Promoting, Judge Recalling Movement

by Feminist & Prison Abolitionist
When this anti-prison woman first heard about the anti-rape movement, I recalled the Scottsboro Boys, a group of black boys and men framed for rape in the 1930s. Rape is certainly terrible, but in a capitalist society which does not promote rehabilitation, it is a class and racist weapon, and always a political football.
When this anti-prison woman first heard about the anti-rape movement, I recalled the Scottsboro Boys, a group of black boys and men framed for rape in the 1930s. Rape is certainly terrible, but in a capitalist society which does not promote rehabilitation, it is a class and racist weapon, and always a political football.

This hysteria has now reached a point of recalling a judge in Santa Clara County, Judge Aaron Persky, on June 5, 2018, in a 60-40 vote, and has now terrorized judges to promoting more prison time for the workingclass and usually black or brown defendants, all at the expense of us taxpayers, where if they actually committed the crime, they will receive no rehabilitation. When a person is sentenced on a sex charge, they are required to sign up with the state as sex offenders on a list that is a public record, searchable by potential employers, thus guaranteeing they can never be employed and will be on the public payroll either by returning to prison or on some subsistence program for the rest of their lives, all paid for by us taxpayers.

A good article on the politicizing of the judiciary with this recall movement is by Oakland public defender, Rachel Marshall, “The Recall of the Judge Who Sentenced Brock Turner Will End Up Hurting Poor, Minority Defendants” on June 6, 2018 at https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/6/6/17434694/persky-brock-turner-recall-california-stanford-rape-sentencing

As to the Brock Turner case, where the woman was drunk to the point of being unconscious, if this anti-prison woman had sat on the jury, she would have voted not guilty due to the 100% contributory negligence of the woman as there is no excuse for getting drunk at all, much less to the point of being unconscious. Of course, being anti-prison, this woman will never be allowed to sit on any criminal case jury. The case is more fully described at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People_v._Turner

The only solution is to abolish the prison-punishment system and demand rehabilitation programs for those who have a drinking problem, as both Brock Turner and the female drunk had. That is the most cost effective for us taxpayers and actually solves the alcohol problem. This woman was embarrassed and horrified that the female drunk’s self-serving psychobabble statement was circulated widely and has only served to promote lynch mob justice, all at the expense of the taxpayers and the workingclass of all colors.
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Thank you for posting this opinion piece. I have a little trouble with blaming the victim for being drunk, but have similar problems with ANYONE drinking to the point of not being in control of themselves, due to alcoholism in my family that resulted in child abuse. There is much that is not written about this case in the press that is known to people who live near Stanford.

Racism was directed at judge Persky in the form of threats,...his wife is Asian American. They have small children and feared for their safety.

Judge LaDoris Cordell, an African-American retired judge, worked hard on the campaign AGAINST the recall of Persky. She fears that now that people will feel they can recall judges for giving light sentences, people of color in particular will be at risk of longer sentences.
by Feminist & Prison Abolitionist
Thanks for the reference to the No recall website at https://norecall2018.org/get-the-facts-1/ where we can find a very informative statement from Reps. Eshoo & Lofgren at
https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5ab2759a5417fc4a4262dc04/t/5b05c95c1ae6cf68494248ea/1527105885220/Press+Release+Zoe+Lofgren+Anna+Eshoo.pdf
Eshoo & Lofgren correctly state that:
"An independent judiciary upholds our national values. Consider this:
An independent judiciary has kept the DACA kids here.
An independent judiciary forced changes in the “Muslim ban.”
An independent judiciary is holding the line on a woman’s right to choose. An independent judiciary calls foul on
gerrymandering by legislatures.
Lifetime appointments protect federal judges from public recall, leaving them free to make decisions like Roe v.
Wade, Loving v. Virginia and Brown v. Board of Education. But state court judges also need to make decisions based on the facts and law before them. Recall threats as well as threats of impeachment being made in other
states undermine the judicial independence that is the bulwark of our free society protected by the rule of law.
The judiciary and its independence are under constant attack by the President. Such assaults undermine confidence in our democratic institutions, the institutions we rely on to uphold our Constitution.
An independent judiciary is essential to our democratic system of government."
Also read the lies of the recall campaign and facts presented by the No Recall campaign at
https://norecall2018.org/get-the-facts/

Now the sentence for the crime for which Turner has been convicted has been lengthened, costing the taxpayers more money to jail more people. I think the judge should announce the cost of imprisoning a person for the length of the sentence made at the time of sentencing so that it is a public record for the taxpayers to read out loud when they prepare their income tax forms. I guarantee you when people hear what they pay for prisons, the prisons will be shut down. They do not solve any problems at all; they make them worse as they steal money from social service programs that provide rehabilitation.

As to the so-called privilege of all whites, that is a lie. Brock Turner was not at all privileged. His father was a civil engineer and his mother a nurse, and he was the third child who they hoped would be an Olympic swimmer and then become a medical doctor. Both are very stressful goals for anyone, and trying to achieve both at the same time while being 2,000 miles from his Ohio home at age 19 was too much stress. He could only go to swanky Stanford on a scholarship, which did not pay all his tuition, and his parents had to struggle to pay the balance. Now he is a registered sex offender and unemployable. That is why the prison-punishment system must be abolished.
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