Months in jail. Turner was convicted of sexually assaulting an unconscious 22yearold woman on the campus. Many view the sentence as too lenient. Its fuelling debate about Campus Sexual Assault along with how race and privilege play out in the criminal justice system. Joining us now are Michelle Dauber, whos spearheading the effort against the judge and katie murphy. Katie, r wabt to ask you, the last few day, weve seen so many actions in addition to the recall petition. At least a dozen state lawmakers are demanding an vest dpags of the judge for misconducts. Also a review of the sentence in this case. Joe biden has issued an open letter in support of the victim. Why do you think other Campus Sexual Assault cases is receiving this level of anger and attention . I think for one thing, whats different about this case was the victim wrote this incredible moving compelling statement that went completely viral on buzz feed. It was posted i believe on friday. It was long. It was just extraordinary. And it described, it took this person who is still nameless and faceless, but it infused her with, she became a real human, a real person and she described how devastating the attack was even though she didnt remember it and she described, she also responded to all of these myths about race and Sexual Assault. Especially those involving alcohol. So, i think that that people around the world were reading that were so move d by it and then then in contrast to that, were reading the statements by the defendant and, brock turner, who was a former swimmer at stanford, and his father and other people, oh supporters who are trying to get the lenient sentence and the letter from the dad said that this was only, this was 20 minutes of action in his 20 plus years of life. And that 20 minutes of action line just took on a life of its own, especially in the context of her letter and just you know, we use the word fire storm a lot, but this actually i think yeah. Since youre talking about the statement, we have a kouchl excerpt frs the statement, so lets first of all take a look at the letter that brock turner submitted to the court prior to his sentencing. He said, ive been shattered by the Party Culture and risk taking behavior that i briefly experienced in my four months at school. The victims letter, she addressed that issue in her own statement, which she read out loud in court and she said regretting drinking is not the same as regrets Sexual Assault. We were both drunk. The difference is i did not take off your pants and underwear, touch you inappropriately and run away. Professor, how are these statements now shaping the debate online and in the media, really around the world and lots of people are talking about this. Yes, welsh i think that the important thing for people to understand about her statement is that she wrote it to persuade one person, not the millions of people who are now reading. She wrote it to persuade judge persky, that mr. Turner should receive a sentence consistent with the law and unfortunately, judge persky appears to be the one person perhaps on earth who was not persuaded and instead, he paid a great deal of attention to the statements of mr. Turner, which did not take responsibility for Sexual Assault or express remorse for Sexual Assault. It was a kind of a nonapology apology. Im sorry this happened. Without really saying what the this is. You know, except that he got drunk. The da asked for six years in this case in prison and he was given six months and may get out in as little as three months with good behavior. Why do you want the judge recalled . Do you think theres actual misconduct in this case . No. I dont. I am not accusing nor is anyone connected with the committee to recall him suggesting in any way at this time that he has committed any ethical violation or mall feez sans. What we are saying is that he doesnt understand Sexual Violence or violence against women and we want to put that in this decision before the voters so they can replace him hopefully with someone who does understand these issues because these issues are too important and central in the lives of women and particularly women students, to allow someone who would make a decision like this, to continue if that position. Some are defending the judge. The judge and public defender declined to come on the show, but have publicly supported the judge saying he displayed proper discretion given brocks youth. I have two reactions. First of all, the california tat chute says that the sentence in this case is supposed to be an absolute minimum of two years and its presumptively eneligible for probation, which means the judge has to bend over backwards to make an exception in order to defuate from that minimum sentence and in this case, the way he did that was he found he was intoxicated and he was a very high achieving young man prior to his crime and that describes every single Sexual Assault at stanford university. All these young men are intoxicated and high achieving, so, we cant have a situation where we are deciding that if you commit your crime on a college campus, you get a get out of jail free card. I should point out the da is against the sentence that was giffin out even though he doesnt feel the judge should be recalled. And i want to ask you Something Else as well. Since were talking about judge, hes the same judge who handled a case in cuppertino about five years ago, a civil case involving allegations of gang r rape. You spoke with one of the female soccer players. What is her reaction to this and the reaction of people you talked to about this case . Do they feel that the system is broken or that theres hope . Well, the woman i spoke to, one of the soccer players who went in and rescued a 17yearold from this party where there were, the site of the gang rape incident or allegations and she felt that she wasnt surprised at all by the sentence. And she, no. Why . She said he was horrified by it, but not surprised and felt like this shows that the system was doing what it was designed to do. Which is protect people of privilege and she didnt think it was there to protect women who were victim of Sexual Violence. Much more to come on this im sure and thank you both for coming on and talking about a really complicated issue. Professor Michelle Dauber and Bay Area News Group reporter, katie murphy. Thank you both. Thank you so much. This week, california delivered Hillary Clinton a victory that seriously dented Bernie Sanders efforts to prove he had pop list appeal in the state, but he hasnt endorsed clinton. Tuesdays election also yielded a series of heated run offs. The contest to replace Barbara Boxer along with races for south bay congressional and state senate seats. Here to discuss is scott schaffer, our Senior Editor of politic and government. Hi, scott. Hello. Were going the start off by putting you on the spot. Last year, you were on the show with a couple of other panelists talk about how close the race was between hillary and bernie. Prediction. Lets take a look at that rediction. Really is. We now have four polls showing its a dead heat within a point or two. I think whats happened is this. California of course is a very diverse state and if more, many months, the conventional wisdom is that blacks, latinos and Asian American voters would be her fire wall. That would be the way she would win as she has in the south for example and Bernie Sanders has made inroads among those voters. The old expression that the only poll that really counts is the one on election day and thats the case. There were four and they showed identically the aim thing that clinton was up by two. He had made inroads in these minority groups. Polls are also a guess about whos going to vote. Turned out the young folks didnt vote. It was older, whiter, more democrat and all that crew to Hillary Clintons advantage. And the clintons are. Reporter familiar with california. Bill clinton visited kcaliforni more than any other president. Hillary clinton won the state back in 2008 against obama. How much has that clinton political machinery and familiarity with the state coming to play . I think it makes a big difference. Bernie came in ahead of steam, but had no infrastructure a year ago. Bill clinton was on the ballot twice, 1992 and 1996, 2008, theyve won every single time and they have deep relationships. Not just with the political operative, but with the black church, Latino Community and asian community. Those things matter because when you need people out to vote, you need surrogates at the churches and elsewhere. In the final few days of the campaign, they called 2 million voters. It was retail politics, which you never see in california. You see that in new hampshire, iowa, but to see bill clinton in ant yok and Hillary Clinton in parris, california, it was extraordinary. What impact does californias primary have . I think it had a wig impact, but not in the way we expected. It looked like it was going to be decisive for donald trump. It was the last chance to stop trump, then the air went out of the that balloon. And it turned out to be super important to Hillary Clinton. If Bernie Sanders had won on tuesday, wed have a different context this week. As it is, we saw sanders really backing off his criticism of her. Hes going to be meeting with her next week. Elizabeth warren has endorsed her. I think Hillary Clinton found her voice in california. That speech she gave in san diego on National Security where she really took on trump, i think that penetrated the public psyche more than almost anyone shes done in this campaign. Also asking about the kra top two primary and how its affected Barbara Boxer. Weve got two democrats now battling each other. Camera la harris and loretta sanch sanchez. Harris did really well. Had the most money as well. Money, endorsements, endorsements of the Democratic Party. Sort of a rising star in party. Its tough. She won only five counties in california out of 58. Kamala won 50. Republicans won three. Barely won her own county, sanchez. Orange county, so its really tough. I mean, she will probably play up her credentials on the Homeland Security committee and Armed Services committee. Maybe appeal to more conservative voters. Republicans dont have anywhere to go now, but its tough. The map is tough. Talk about the house race as well between very tight. Honda won last time. This is the rematch. How do things look for honda this time around . Its tough. Last thim thyme they faced off in 2014, anda was ahead by 20 points. This time ahead by a few hundred votes. Big change. Got a lot of head wind, honda does. President obama has not endorsed him this time. Being neutral. Eight term incumbent. It is. Youre seeing some groups that had endorsed honda the first time are now with rocana. Hondas having trouble raising money, so honda is probably the most california congressman in california thats it. Hell be replaced by another democrat because its two democrats facing off against each other. Want to leave on the state senate race between jane cam and scott weiner, getting a lot of attention. A bit of a surprise. Jane had a strong showing. He was very much expected to run away with it. Had again the endorsements, the money, had the official stamp of approval by the county Democratic Party and she had the ad were looking at now. Black belt. Yeah, the black belt ad, which people were talking about and maybe most importantly, a big endorsement from Bernie Sanders in the closing days of the campaign. It got her a lot of attention and really energized, even though Bernie Sanders lost san francisco. Wanted to say measure aa, a tax to help with Flood Control projects passed as well and boy, that was a lot to cover. That was. A lot more in november. Thanks so much, scott. You bet. Trz. Also on the legislative front, yesterday, california became the fifth state in the nation to allow whats called aid in dying. The end of life option act allows terminally ill adults who have less than six months to live to request a prescription for a lethal dose of medication. Joining me now is dr. Shablson who founded a practice in response to the new law. Thank you for joining us. My pleasure. You were an emergency room doctor and a primary care physician for nearly 40 years before retiring from medicine. What made you come out of retirement now to have this practice devoted to patients who want to end their lives . This goes back quite far for me. About 22 years ago, i was looking at this issue of physician said in dying and wrote a book at this point in time calleded the chosen death. It was basically an examination of the hidden practice of what was called assisted suicide, about how patients who were concerned about how they might die were hoarding their medication, how family members were being involved in their deaths much to their dismay of helping a patient die. Physicians were doing this in secret and so many any work and examining this, the Hidden Underground of assisted suicide looked like, it became apparent to me this was something patients really were asking for. Sometimes incorrectly. Most of the time incorrectly. They were just afraid of how they would die and were asking for help in hastening their death. How does this new law then work to clarify that and to make that situation better in your mind. So, the new law says specifically is that its f a patient says they are suffering at the end of their life to the point of their life where they are finished, its often for a variety of reasons, but its the patients reason. They can request that their physician an aid in dying medication, which means dose of medication sufficient in causing death. They have to make two requests with that, 15 a days separating them because we really want to be sure this isnt like a flash in the pan decision, sudden decision. So, theres a 15day waiting period between the two requests. We have to be determined that theyre mentally competent as well. Yes, this does not apply to patients with dementia. They have to be competent of understand iing the decision an making medical decisions that take care of their care. Gl so, this law was intended to help terminally ill patients avoid prolongeded pain and suffering, which is what jerry brown said when he signed it into law, but in oregon, just had a right to die law for year, state data shows theres about a quarter of those who died from lethal medication who said they were worried about pain control. What are some of the other major reasons people want to do this is this. Its a great example. At the end of life now, we have the phenomenal ability now to take care of people as they die. Hospi hospice, all that has improved. What really is the issue is the patients own sensation of what suffering means. For some, suffering is laying in bed slowly dying for a period of three to four weeks. For some, it is having their family there watching as they suffer. Everybody has their own definition of what suffering means. Or perhaps burdening their families. Thats one possibility. Patients make decisions autonomously all the time. Even decisions like stopping chemotherapy at the end of their battle with cancer. We may say you should have more, but we never say you must have more, yet at the end of life, we say you must have more life, you have to wait. But there are many who are very morally opposed to what youre doing here. Youre being called dr. Death online. A lot of tweets have been said what about what wrou doing. I guess this goes to the point what you just said, the various reasons people do this. They dont always include fear of pain, so critics of the law are concerned this opens up a whole new can of worms. Op opens it up to, could lead to abuse of the elderly or poor. Others who may not understand there are other options. So, this is not something new in the entire world. For instance, in the united states, we have four states that are participating. All of those fears that people bring up, theres a slippery slope, well be killing people with other disease or against their will, sl years of experience in oregon and none of that has happened. This has improved the end of life care in oregon. If you look at the significance of how this has played out in the state of oregon, the effect has been a very tiny, tiny number of people who have taken medication. Less than 0. 5 . Onehalf percent of the population who died. Yet overall end of life care in the state has improved phenomenally during that time without signs of abuse, so i appreciate that fear that people might have, but it hasnt turned out to be reality. As we said, the law just went into effect this week. Well see how it works out in the future. Thank you so much for joining us. My pleasure. Thank you. And we would like to tell you now about a Bay Area Group thats using music to help those who are dying. For more than a decade now, the threshold choir has been easing the final journey through ong. My full name is adrian luca brooks. I have terminal brain cancer. I am here beside you i want to do this work of singing at the bedside of people who are dying because i feel very strongly that death is a very real part of life and we cant just ignore it. May peace be with you when i go to the bedside, it is an opportunity to be in a very sacred space with someone. Because you are there with a person in their most intimate time. Going to their own questions about why me, am i going to see tomorrow . Theyre reflecting in a way that is very pure. I am kate munger, founder of the threshold choir. In 1990, i was asked to fill in a volunteer spot for a friend who was dying of hiv aids. It was very distressing to see him comatose and agitated, so i did what i did at the time when i was nervous or afraid and i started singing. I watched him calm, settle, get positively serene and i calmed, settled and got positively serene and felt i had discovered something or rediscovered something, ancient practice that tribal humans do for one another when someones struggling. Has helped with relieving some of my pain. Some of my physical pain. In my head. I just smile a lot. My grateful heart i came close to death. I had a brain tumor that was very large and it was a pretty scary time. And i came out of that surgery blind and unable to walk. And i had an opportunity to decide okay, what am i going to do now . If i get better, im going to do something important. I always loved to sing and i heard there were these people that sang to people who were dying. And i thought that was the most incredible thing id ever heard. Got a little shiver up my spine and i went, oh, ive got to go do this. When they hear that first sound, especially when they hear the harmonies, its a visceral experience. Its full body absorption of vibration. Would you like some more songs . You can see that they begin to breathe more easily. And its just a feeling that theyre relaxed and comfortable and when theyre feeling that way, you feel better and its just a resip row cal energy that goes back and forth. I believe that our purpose as human beings is to be givers. However we can. Go through the harshest of life. Go through the real of life. We take all the energy and we find a way to give and help others. So, im proud of them. We sing mostly small songs written by the choir members. People who dont do it sh dont get it. Theyre like, why are you doing that . I think what theyre terrified of is actually seeing somebody dying. Most of us think of death as an event, but when i had seen people in their dying, its a process. Ive been able to at least watch the process in others and ask myself how will i do it, which i never would have had that conversation ever. I would have just sat in the fear. A song can be a bridge from the purely physical temporal body experience that we have for many years to what lies beyond. Every trouble drift away doing this work has made me feel more alive and more into the in the moment and i hope that at some point in the future when i am on the threshold, someone will come and sing to me. These beautiful, peaceful songs. When they come to sing, its an act of love and support. Which is what i need most in my life right now. Thanks so much for watching. A program note, we will be off air next friday. Join us again on friday, june 24th. For all of kqeds news coverage, go to kqednews. Org. Announcer a kqed television production. Sbrocco and everybody say opa man opa woman opa
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