Washington Post: Voters remove judge who sentenced Brock Turner to six months in Stanford sexual assault case – “The California judge who evoked national outrage after sentencing Stanford University swimmer Brock Turner to six months in jail after his conviction for sexually assaulting an unconscious woman was ousted from office Tuesday night following a tempestuous recall campaign. Voters in Santa Clara County removed Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky from the bench in a victory for the campaign that argued Persky’s leniency in the sexual assault case was an affront to the victim and all survivors. As of 4:30 a.m. Pacific Time, 59.6 percent of voters supported recalling Persky, with 76 percent of precincts reporting, according to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. Persky, 56, had served on the court since 2003. His supporters had argued that removing a duly elected judge over disagreement with a controversial but lawful sexual assault sentence would both erode the democratic process and cause judges everywhere to impose lengthier sentences for fear of public backlash.

“Tonight many, many voters voted against the culture of impunity for high-status perpetrators of sexual assault or domestic violence,” Michele Dauber, a Stanford University professor and chair of the Recall Judge Aaron Persky Campaign, told The Washington Post. “This election expresses clearly that sexual assault, sexual violence is serious and it has to be taken seriously by elected officials. It’s a historical moment when women across all sectors of society are standing up saying, ‘Enough is enough.’”