PALO ALTO — With barely a month before voters decide whether he keeps his job, a Santa Clara County judge facing a recall election for giving a relatively light sentence to a former Stanford athlete convicted of sex assault on Tuesday blasted the campaign against him as a “silent corrupting force.’’
Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky said his ouster would have the insidious effect of making it much tougher for judges across California to keep a “laser focus on the facts and the law.’’
“It will be a silent corrupting force that will enter the minds of judges,’’ he said. “They shouldn’t be thinking, ‘Who’s going to hate me if I decide one way or the other?’’’
Persky did not discuss the six-month sentence he gave in 2016 to former Stanford swimmer Brock Turner for sexually assaulting an intoxicated, unconscious woman outside a campus fraternity party, citing strict rules governing what judicial candidates may say. Turner was released after three months for good behavior, and under state law, must also register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
But the judge defended his 14-year record on the bench in a 45-minute news conference at a supporter’s Palo Alto home.
“I give due weight and consideration to every person that walks into the courtroom regardless of race, gender, ethnicity, that’s what we have to do,” he said.
Absentee ballots for the June 5 election already have been mailed out. Yet the news conference was the first Persky has held since Turner’s sentence set off a national outcry, prompted new state laws in California and launched the recall movement. A new state law now forbids judges from granting probation or jail time instead of a state prison sentence for the sexual assault of anyone who is intoxicated or unconscious.
He said he hasn’t spoken out at length in the past two years despite the toll the campaign has taken on his family because “judges should sit back and take it” when they are criticized. He decided to speak out now about a campaign he said has inaccurately caricatured him because “the stakes are too high.”
“I think judges should typically zip it,” Persky said. “It’s only when you get to the point where recall gets serious, they could win.”
Recall opponents like retired judge LaDoris Cordell note that Persky’s sentence for Turner was lawful and followed a probation department recommendation.
But it took the recall campaign only about four months to collect nearly 95,000 signatures to put the issue on the ballot, and its polling indicates the measure could win by a wide margin.
Led by Stanford professor Michele Dauber, the recall campaign has raised about $1.1 million, including about $221,000 from a Peninsula psychiatrist, Karla Jurvetson.
Recall proponents argue that the Turner sentence showed Persky’s pattern of sentencing leniency toward privileged defendants. But Persky supporters say his critics are “cherry picking” cases and still only cited five of 64 of the judge’s sexual assault and domestic violence cases.
Both sides also have sparred over the results of a state judicial commission report that cleared Persky of any systemic bias, which recall supporters have said is riddled with factual errors.
In the course of contending that the recall poses a threat to an independent judiciary, Persky on Tuesday suggested that if U.S. Supreme Court justices were subject to recalls, the high court might never have ruled in favor in 1954 of desegregating schools.
But Dauber called the comparison to the court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education “absurd.’’
“In Brown, the Supreme Court bravely ruled with the powerless against the powerful,’’ she said in a written statement. “In Brock Turner’s case, Persky did the exact opposite. That was neither brave nor commendable. The public has lost faith in him as a result and that is why he is being recalled.’’
Persky said judges should only be recalled for incompetence or malfeasance. Judicial recalls are banned in 41 other states as well as the federal court system to preserve the independence of the judiciary. Only five states — California, Arizona, North Dakota, Oregon and Wisconsin — allow judges to be recalled for any reason. Another four states that allow judicial recalls require malfeasance or other specified wrongdoing.
Persky said he expected his decision in the Turner case to draw criticism. But he was surprised about ”the amount of backlash,’’ which he attributed to social media. The Turner case garnered attention internationally after the victim’s 12-page impact statement went viral.
On Tuesday, Persky highlighted his record of service, including prosecuting sexually violent predators when he worked for the District Attorney’s office. The recall campaign has taken a terrible toll on his two sons, 7 and 9, and his wife, he said.
But he credited the campaign for triggering a “national conversation’’ about the violence against women. Persky served on the executive committee of the Support Network for Battered Women and on the Santa Clara County Network for a Hate-Free Community.
“I just think the recall is misguided,” Persky said. “I wish they would take all the passion and energy and put it somewhere constructive.”
