California lawmakers pass rape bill inspired by Stanford case
LOS ANGELES - California lawmakers, acting in response to nationwide outrage over the six-month jail term given to a former Stanford University swimmer following his conviction for sexual assault on an unconscious woman, on Monday passed legislation closing a loophole that allowed the sentence.
The law, AB-2888, now goes to Governor Jerry Brown for his signature.
The measure was introduced in the legislature in response to the sentence given to 20-year-old Brock Turner by Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky in June, which was widely condemned as too lenient. Prosecutors had asked that Turner be given six years in state prison.
Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape, penetration of an intoxicated person and penetration of an unconscious person in the January 2015 attack. Under California law, those charges are not considered rape because they did not involve penile penetration.
According to the legislators, current California law calls for a mandatory prison term in cases of rape or sexual assault where force is used, but not when the victim is unconscious or severely intoxicated and thus unable to resist.
Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/us-california-rape-bill-idUSKCN1142G9
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