Recalled Judge and Tennis Coach
Former Judge Michael Persky was hired over the summer as the girls’
tennis coach at Lynbrook High School in San Jose. He had been recalled
as a judge in 2018 for how he handled the Brock Turner rape case, which
is the first time California voters had done this since 1932. Despite being
convicted of 3 counts of felony sexual assault, Judge Persky sentenced
Stanford swimmer Brock Turner to only 6 months in jail. Of those 6
months, Turner served 3 in county jail, sparking public outrage. For
perspective, the maximum sentence for rape is 14 years in federal prison!
After hearing about the new girls’ tennis coach, parents, current students,
and alumnae erupted on social media and in the local news. A teacher
proclaimed, “It’s absurd that he would be hired in a position to be a leader
of girls. A coach is a mandated reporter. And I wonder whether a girl
would feel comfortable reporting to him if she had been assaulted in any
way at school or otherwise?” A former student argued the community,
especially students, could not trust “a man who blatantly disregarded the
pain and trauma Chanel Miller [Turner’s victim] experienced.” A current
student posted the principal’s and head of athletics’ emails, exclaiming,
“Have at it.”
Lynbrook responded that Persky was “highly qualified” to be a high school
tennis coach. He had attended many coaching clinics and carries a “high
rating” by the US Tennis Association. He also completed all of the
District’s hiring prerequisites such as passing a fingerprint background
check. However, Lynbrook understood many were concerned about
Persky taking the job. They actually didn’t know about his connection to
the Brock Turner case when they hired him because he applied as
Michael Persky, not Aaron Persky.
The public outcry quickly became too much. Thousands (including me)
signed petitions online to remove Persky. Some students were even
organizing protests for later this week.
On Wednesday, Fremont Union High School announced Persky’s
employment had “ended,” and that this was done “in the best interest” of
the community. They are now looking for a new girls’ tennis coach.
The fact that Lynbrook hired Persky shows how the school is out of touch
with sexual assault against students. Schools need to be educated about
how to prevent and address sexual violence. This means understanding
past cases and not hiring possible sex offender sympathizers. Instead,
schools need individuals that will confront sexual assault, not make
excuses for students’ lewd behavior and minimize the suffering of
survivors.
However, I am satisfied that the school ended Persky’s employment at
Lynbrook. His role as a mandated reporter did not coincide with the
values he demonstrated in the Brock Turner case. He belittled rape and
demonstrated he thought 6 months in jail were adequate reparations.
Because of that, as a female, I would not feel comfortable reporting to
him, and I question his ability to lead high school girls given how uneasy I
would be around him.
Some community members believe this job could have been
transformative for Persky, helping him build empathy for women. But at
what cost? Students deserve to feel comfortable at school and trust their
teachers and coaches. We can’t have a person in authority who
condones sexual misconduct.
Sources:
This case also makes me think about how recently Joichi Ito from M.I.T. stepped down for having ties to Jeffrey Epstein in the form of a 1.7 million dollar donation which he tried to cover up. People who work in educational institutions are obligated to protect their students. Seeing how people with power and influence try to undermine this is deeply unsettling. While I do not believe that people should be denied employment on the basis of their ideas or their connections, when this reflects badly on the school, they have the right to remove them. In the end, I believe it is best for people such as Persky to find employment outside of academics or activities involving students as they have failed to show they can be trusted to do what is in the best interests of those they are mandated to protect.
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ReplyDeleteThis is a very sensitive case to touch on. I agree with you that the sentance Judge Perskey gave Brock Turner was way to light and that he should have sentanced him to way more than only three months. That was almsot four years ago now. I am a firm beliver in giving everybody a second chance and by hiring him to be the coach seems like a fair scenario. Now although people might believe Judge Perskey hasnt changed since the case I would argue otherwise. He got recalled as a Judge, meaning he lost his job, and that seems already likea big enough punsihment for what he did. Besides, when you interview for a coaching posistion at a High School there are three steps. One, you get interviewed by the Vice Principal, the AD, the team captain, a fellow coach, and a team parent. Two, you get interviewed by the Principal. Three, you get approved by the school board. Now to get through all three of those steps, everyone had to agree he was in fact a good candidate including the captain and the parent. If he was able to get through all three of these stages, that means that something has clearly changed with his thinking and everyone who interviewed him must have felt very comfortable around him otherwise they wouldn't have let him through to the next stages. This might seem crazy to you guys, but maybe this is Judge Perskey's way of trying to right his wrong, and show people that he understands he made a mistake and that the Brock Turner case four years ago doesn't actually display who he is now.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that we should have put Brock Turner in jail for a longer amount of time not just 3 months. Compared to this case and many other cases I don't think they are being handled right because people like Brock should be sentenced for a longer about of years not just months. When this schools decided to hire him they should have asked for more information to see if that was truly him and I believe that this might have been a wake up call towards other schools that they should dig deeper into people to see if they are not using a fake name like Brock Turner did.
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