Judges and Judiciary
Dec. 21, 2016
Judge cleared by CJP over sentence but still faces recall effort
The Commission on Judicial Performance rejected any disciplinary action against Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky for the six-month jail sentence he gave to a convicted sexual assailant, but the judge's critics still hope to remove him from the bench in a recall election.
Daily Journal Staff Writer
The Commission on Judicial Performance rejected any disciplinary action against Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky for the six-month jail sentence he gave to a convicted sexual assailant, but the judge's critics still hope to remove him from the bench in a recall election.
In an explanatory statement, the commission published the results of an unusual investigation of Persky, who was never subject to formal proceedings over his sentencing of former Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner.
CJP Chief Counsel Victoria Henley said the commission infrequently releases statements about judges when the agency does not launch a formal investigation. The commission said the statement is a response to the thousands of complaints the body received criticizing the sentence as being too lenient.
The statement upholds the importance of judicial independence, echoing the public letters numerous bar associations published following Turner's controversial sentence in June.
In defense of the way in which the sentence was determined, the commission noted, among other things, that the sentence was within the parameters of law, Persky conducted a multi-factor balancing test and the sentence followed the recommendation of the county probation department.
The commission rejected the notion that Persky should have disclosed his history as a former Stanford student-athlete. A couple of days after sentencing, Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeff Rosen told the Daily Journal he wished he had known Persky once captained the Stanford lacrosse team.
Turner was found guilty of digitally penetrating an intoxicated woman behind a dumpster after attending a party on campus. He was released from jail in September and will remain on probation for three years. He was also ordered to register as a sex offender for life.
Just weeks after Turner was released, Gov. Jerry Brown signed AB 2888, which prohibits courts from granting probation in lieu of a state prison sentence to anyone convicted of Turner's crimes.
Kathleen M. Ewins, a partner at Long & Levit LLP who represented Persky before the commission, praised the thoroughness of the statement.
"The CJP left no stone unturned — down to the level of examining $50 charitable contributions from the 1980s," Ewins said.
She said Persky has faced physical and professional threats.
Perhaps the leading voice calling for Persky's ouster is Stanford Law School Professor Michele Dauber. In a statement, Dauber questioned the commission's belief that Persky has not demonstrated bias in his rulings related to sexual assaults and reaffirmed her commitment to recalling him..
We believe that the record is completely clear that Judge Persky has a long record of failing to take violence against women seriously, and we will demonstrate that when we launch the [recall] campaign early next year," Dauber wrote. "We believe that voters support the recall and replacement of Judge Persky."
In April, Dauber said, she will begin collecting the 80,000 signatures required to place the question of recalling Persky on the November ballot.
Women's advocacy group UltraViolet, which helped elevate the issue to national attention, was disappointed with the announcement.
"Once again, justice has been denied in this case. Today's decision is an insult to survivors of sexual assault everywhere," said UltraViolet co-founder Shaunna Thomas.
An attempt Monday to directly reach Persky was unsuccessful.
philip_johnson@dailyjournal.com
Phil Johnson
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