Brian Banks and Brock Turner: Ever-Present Wealth and Race Privileges

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3630119/Brian-Banks-wrongfully-convicted-rape-teen-cites-privilege-Stanford-rape-case.html

http://mimesislaw.com/fault-lines/brock-turner-the-sort-of-defendant-who-is-spared-severe-impact/10288

Recently, I have stumbled across two compelling cases in relation to rape. The first is about a White Stanford swimmer, Brock Allen Turner, who raped an intoxicated woman in a frat party, behind a dumpster. He is currently sentence to six months in jail. The other case I read about showed a Black football player, Brian Banks, who did not go to a prestigious university as Stanford, but was convicted and forced to serve five years in prison for rape that he did not commit. Both of these incidents are horrid, but in different ways.

Brian Banks

The five years that was taken away from Banks's life cannot be returned. By giving such a lenient, short sentence for Turner, it is a disgrace of the justice system. This blatantly conveys the effects of privilege based on wealth and race. 

These cases illustrate not only privilege from race, but also of wealth privileges. While Brian Banks served six years for a crime he did not commit, Brock Allen Turner was charged to go to prison for up to six months. The judge's reasoning behind was to spare "severe impact" for Turner. This reasoning is  unjustified, as the sentencing is obviously biased in favor for Turner. People should not be treated differently because they are more well-endowed than their peers or they are of different ethnicity. If another person who did not fit the demographics of Brock Turner was convicted of the rape, the punishment would not be spared because of "severe impact." The fact that a White Division 1 swimmer was spared time from prison because it would be "too harsh" on him, shows the privileges present in the justice system. If this was not a White Stanford swimmer, I wonder if the consequences would be different.

Brock Turner

The gap between race and wealth is incredible between these two cases. On one side, you have Brian Banks who was originally convicted to 41 years to life in prison for rape that he was accused of in high school. The recent case for Turner is minuscule compared to that of Banks, only up to six months. The father of Brock Turner stated that his son should not be incarcerated because "he had no prior criminal history and has never been violent with anyone." This statement does not hold water because by committing a rape on a student, that person is violating another's right to their body and taking advantage of an intoxicated person. This lenient sentencing for Turner is a danger to the world, as the justice system does not do a well enough job to punish a him.