Aaron Persky
Aaron Persky is a former judge for the Superior Court of Santa Clara County in California. He was appointed by Democratic Governor Gray Davis in September 2003 to succeed Conrad Rushing.[1][2]
Persky was recalled on June 5, 2018, due to his decision to sentence Stanford student Brock Allen Turner, who was convicted of sexual assault, to six months in jail. Recall supporters argued the sentence was too lenient of a punishment. It was the first successful judicial recall in California since 1932. Read more here.
The California Commission on Judicial Performance also opened an investigation into the matter. In December 2016, it closed the investigation, ruling that Persky had not acted inappropriately.[3]
Biography
Persky received a bachelor's degree from Stanford University and a J.D. from the University of California, Berkeley Boalt Hall School of Law. He was admitted to the bar in 1990.[4] Persky received the Civil Rights Leadership Award from the California Association of Human Relations Organizations and the Wiley Manuel Pro Bono Award from the California Bar Association.[2]
Below is a summary of Persky's professional experience:
- 2003-2018: Judge, Superior Court of Santa Clara County
- 1997-2003: Attorney, Santa Clara District Attorney's Office
- 1992-1997: Attorney, Morrison and Foerster[2]
Elections
2018
Persky faced a recall election on June 5, 2018. If a majority of voters voted to recall Persky, the nominee with the most votes would be elected to the remainder of his term, which was slated to end in 2022.[5]
| Aaron Persky recall, 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
 Yes |
61.6% | 202,849 |
| No | 38.4% | 126,459 |
| Total Votes | 329,308 | |
| Source: Santa Clara County elections | ||
| Aaron Persky recall (replacement candidate), 2018 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes |
| Cindy Seeley Hendrickson |
68.0% | 174,045 |
| Angela Storey | 32.0% | 82,042 |
| Total Votes | 256,087 | |
| Source: Santa Clara County elections | ||
2016
California held general elections for local judicial offices on November 8, 2016. There was a primary on June 7, 2016. The filing deadline for candidates who wished to run in this election was March 31, 2016. A total of 351 seats were up for election. Incumbent Aaron Persky ran unopposed in the election for Office 18 of the Santa Clara County Superior Court.[6]
| Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge, Office #18, 2016 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Candidate | ||
| Aaron Persky Incumbent | ||
Selection method
- See also: Nonpartisan election
The 1,535 judges of the California Superior Courts compete in nonpartisan races in even-numbered years. If a candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote in the June primary election, he or she is declared the winner; if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the vote, a runoff between the top two candidates is held during the November general election.[7][8][9][10]
If an incumbent judge is running unopposed in an election, his or her name does not appear on the ballot. The judge is automatically re-elected following the general election.[7]
The chief judge of any given superior court is selected by peer vote of the court's members. He or she serves in that capacity for one or two years, depending on the county.[7]
Qualifications
Candidates are required to have 10 years of experience as a law practitioner or as a judge of a court of record.[7]
Noteworthy events
Brock Turner case (2016)
Brock Allen Turner, then 19 years old, was arrested on January 18, 2015, after two graduate students saw him on top of a motionless and partially clothed woman behind a dumpster on the Stanford University campus. The woman, 23 years old, regained consciousness later in the hospital. She had a blood-alcohol level three times the legal limit, and Turner's was twice the legal limit.[11]
Turner's attorneys argued that the encounter was consensual and that he was too drunk to realize that she was no longer conscious. He was found guilty of three felony charges: assault with intent to commit rape of an intoxicated woman, sexually penetrating an intoxicated person with a foreign object, and sexually penetrating an unconscious person with a foreign object.[12]
On June 2, 2016, Judge Persky sentenced Turner to six months in county jail, three years of probation, and registration as a sex offender for the rest of his life. Prosecutors had asked for a sentence of six years in state prison, while probation officers recommended six months of jail.[13]
The woman's victim impact statement garnered a lot of attention and was published by many news outlets, sparking debate and leading to the recall campaign.
In December 2016, the California Commission on Judicial Performance announced that it had investigated the sentence in question and that it had "concluded that there is not clear and convincing evidence of bias, abuse of authority or other basis to conclude that Judge Persky engaged in judicial misconduct warranting discipline."[3] Read the entire 12-page statement from the Commission on Judicial Performance here.
Recent news
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See also
- Courts in California
- California Superior Courts
- Santa Clara County, California
- Aaron Persky recall, Santa Clara County, California (2016)
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ California Courts, "Trial Courts Roster," accessed June 10, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Silicon Valley Business Journal, "Superior Court gets two new judges," September 24, 2003
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 The New York Times, "Judge in Stanford Sexual Assault Case Is Cleared of Misconduct," December 19, 2016
- ↑ Martindale, "Aaron Persky Judge Profile," accessed June 10, 2016
- ↑ California Constitution, "Final steps in the recall: Recall elections," accessed February 12, 2018
- ↑ Santa Clara County Elections, "2016 Candidate List," accessed June 14, 2016
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 American Judicature Society, "Methods of Judicial Selection: California," archived October 2, 2014
- ↑ Los Angeles Times, "Safeguarding California's judicial election process," August 21, 2011
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8203," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ California Elections Code, "Section 8140-8150," accessed May 21, 2014
- ↑ The Guardian, "Ex-Stanford swimmer gets six months in jail and probation for sexual assault," June 2, 2016
- ↑ Mercury News, "Stanford sex assault: Will Brock Turner get years in prison for attack on unconscious woman?" June 1, 2016
- ↑ Mercury News, Stanford sex assault: Brock Turner gets 6 months in jail," June 2, 2016
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Federal courts:
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Central District of California, Eastern District of California, Northern District of California, Southern District of California
State courts:
California Supreme Court • California Courts of Appeal • California Superior Courts
State resources:
Courts in California • California judicial elections • Judicial selection in California
