WEDNESDAY 11AM: Outside the California Commission on Judicial Performance Meeting, Survivors of Sexual Assault Speak Out Against Judge Persky
MEDIA ADVISORY FOR: Wednesday, June 29, 2016
CONTACT: Anna Zuccaro | 914-523-9145 | anna@unbendablemedia.com
WEDNESDAY 11AM: Outside the California Commission on Judicial Performance Meeting, Survivors of Sexual Assault Speak Out Against Judge Persky
Activists from UltraViolet Deliver 1.2 Million Signatures Calling for Removal of Judge Persky from the Bench
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA — On Wednesday, June 29th – as the California Commission on Judicial Performance meets for the first time since Judge Aaron Persky’s sentencing decision in the Brock Turner case – members of UltraViolet, joined by survivors of sexual assault and Bay Area residents will rally outside the Commission’s headquarters calling for the removal of Judge Persky from the bench.
Outside the Commission meeting, nearly a dozen survivors of sexual assault will share their stories explaining why Judge Persky undermines public faith in the judicial system and why he is unfit to provide justice for rape survivors. UltraViolet will also deliver a petition with more than 1.2 million signatures to the California Commission on Judicial Performance calling for Persky’s removal.
WHEN: Wednesday, June 29th. 11:00am PT
WHERE: California Commission on Judicial Performance. 455 Golden Gate Ave, San Francisco, CA
WHAT: Survivors of sexual assault share their stories; UltraViolet delivers 1.2 million signatures to the Commission calling for Judge Persky to be removed from the bench.
Earlier this week, The Guardian reported on Judge Aaron Persky’s apparent bias on the bench, citing how Persky will soon hand down a three-year prison sentence to El Salvador immigrant Raul Ramirez, who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a woman earlier this year. Ramirez’s sentence is nearly six times as long as the sentence received by rapist Brock Turner, who Judge Persky sentenced to only six months in prison following his conviction. Ramirez, like Turner, had no prior offenses.
Since news of Judge Persky’s verdict in the Brock Turner case broke, UltraViolet has:
- delivered the signatures of more than 1,000,000 UltraViolet members to the California Commission on Judicial Performance office in San Francisco on June 10th petitioning for the removal of Judge Aaron Persky.
- commissioned a plane to fly over Stanford University ahead of graduation and commencement ceremonies with a banner reading: “Protect Survivors. Not Rapists. #PerskyMustGo.”
- taken out a full-page ad in The Stanford Daily’s graduation issue inviting students and alumni to take a stand against rape culture.
- organized a letter of more than 1000 Stanford alumni calling on the Commission on Judicial Performance to remove Persky from the bench.
- commissioned a billboard to run on State Highway 92 urging Bay Area residents to call on the California Commission on Judicial Performance to remove Judge Persky.
**Members of UltraViolet will be on-the-ground at the California Commission on Judicial Performance meeting. For more information, or to connect with an UltraViolet spokesperson in the Bay Area, please contact Brett Abrams at 516-841-1105 or by email at brett@unbendablemedia.com.
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UltraViolet is an online community of over 1,000,000 women and men who want to take collective action to expose and fight sexism in the public sector, private sector and the media. Find out more at WeAreUltraViolet.org.