California voters recall judge in Stanford sexual assault case, Democratic state senator

California voters recall Judge Aaron Persky

(Image credit: Gabrielle Lurie/AFP/Getty Images)

last updated 6 June 2018

Santa Clara County Judge Aaron Persky, who earned national notoriety for a handing down a lenient sentence on a Stanford swimmer convicted of sexual assault, is out of a job after voters in California recalled him on Tuesday. Prosecutors had requested a seven-year prison sentence for Stanford student Brock Turner, convicted of sexually assaulting an intoxicated woman outside a frat party in 2016, but Persky gave him six months in county jail. The woman Turner assaulted wrote about her experience in a 12-page statement that went viral, a precursor to the #MeToo movement that started a year later.

In Orange County, California Republicans successfully ousted state Sen. Josh Newman (D), focusing their recall campaign on his support for a 12-cent-per-gallon gas tax. If he is replaced by a Republican, as seems likely, that will end the Democrats' supermajority in the state legislature for the rest of the year.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.