Aaron Persky, the Santa Clara County judge who is facing a recall after his controversial sentencing of former Stanford University student Brock Turner last summer, spoke out for the first time on Friday in a statement filed with the county Registrar of Voters.
Without referencing the Turner case or others he has been criticized for in recent months by the recall campaign, Persky said that he “fought vigorously for victims” as a prosecutor and has followed the law by considering rehabilitation and probation for first-time offenders.
“As a judge, my role is to consider both sides,” he said. “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.”
Persky is mounting his own retain campaign against the recall effort, which is working to collect signatures to place the recall on the ballot next summer.
His statement Friday was a response to a notice of intent the Recall Persky campaign filed earlier in the week.
Persky has been widely criticized for his sentencing of Turner — six months in jail for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman on campus in January 2015 — as well as other sentencing decisions the recall organizers maintain show a pattern of judicial bias in sex crimes against women. Turner ultimately served half of his sentence for good behavior, his trial, conviction, sentencing and release garnering international attention and sparking the official campaign to recall Persky.
The statement from the Retain Judge Persky campaign also includes a statement from retired Santa Clara County Judge LaDoris Cordell calling the recall “misguided.”
“Judicial recalls over a single decision threaten our independent judiciary and set a dangerous precedent,” she said. “Recalls should be for judges who have a pattern of bias or misconduct. Judge Persky has neither.”
Stanford Law Professor Michele Dauber, the chair of the recall campaign, said that Cordell’s statement is “inconsistent” with previous public comments she’s made criticizing Persky’s handling of other sex-offense cases.
“The single biggest threat to judicial independence is a biased judge like Judge Persky, because bias diminishes public confidence in the justice system,” Dauber said. “There is a difference between judicial independence, on the one hand, and a total lack of accountability, on the other. The recall is a democratic process that is provided for by our constitution and is designed to hold elected officials accountable to the people they serve.”
Email Elena Kadvany at ekadvany@paweekly.com
