Judge in Stanford rape case faces growing recall effort

When Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge Aaron Persky handed down a six-month sentence to a former Stanford student convicted on three counts of sexual assault last week, people decried more than what they thought was an exceedingly light sentence. 

They bashed Persky's logic behind the sentence, too. 

The judge cited the many positive character statements sent by family and friends on behalf of the former student, Brock Turner. He said that jail time would have a "severe impact" on the 20-year-old. Persky didn't believe Turner was a threat to society. 

Now, the responding backlash is threatening the judge's career. 

More than 680,000 people have signed an online petition to recall Persky from the bench as of this writing (though only signatures from residents of Persky's district can have a direct impact on the recall effort). 

A website devoted to the recall effort is already up and looking to the future.

"We are hoping that Judge Persky will do the right thing and step down now, but we are preparing to recall him from office if he does not," the website states on its about page.

Persky is up for reelection in November and running unopposed. The website is already preparing its devotees to get to work for a recall effort in 2017 soon after he retakes the bench.

"The law requires us to wait 90 days after his new term of office begins before we can start our recall effort," it says. "So we expect to begin gathering signatures in early April."

If the effort marshals enough signatures, they can force a recall election.

"We need judges who understand violence against women and take it seriously," the website states at the bottom of the page. 

If Persky's time on the bench ends here, it will be on an ironic note. 

The judge, during a 2002 campaign, wrote about himself on the website of the League of Women Voters of California, highlighting his "focus on the prosecution of sexually violent predators" and his efforts "to keep the most dangerous sex offenders in custody in mental hospitals." Persky also mentioned that he was "an Executive Committee Member of the Support Network for Battered Women."

Persky made clear in his sentencing statement that he doesn't think Turner is a "sexually violent predator," and many of Persky's critics don't understand how the judge could view Turner as anything but. 

Turner's swimming, academic achievements and character references, they say, should have little bearing on how much jail time he faces for sexually assaulting a woman. 

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