I noticed an odd tweet this morning, ostensibly from Orange County Superior Court Judge Derek Johnson, with a message directed to me and Rachel.
To be sure, I don’t know if this is the judge’s actual Twitter account, or an account created to make Johnson appear foolish. In fact, I strongly suspect it’s the latter. But after seeing the tweet, I couldn’t help but wonder what, exactly, Johnson had said that would invite the ire of godless socialists.
A longtime Newport Beach judge who said that a rape victim “didn’t put up a fight” and that her sexual assault was only “technical” apologized for his remarks when confronted by a state agency.
Superior Court Judge Derek G. Johnson was publicly admonished by the Commission on Judicial Performance, which said the judge’s comments breached judicial ethics and created an impression of bias against the victim.
At issue is a 2008 case, in which a man named Metin Gurel had been convicted of rape, forcible oral copulation, domestic battery, stalking, and making threats against his former live-in girlfriend. Specifically, Gurel is also believed to have threatened to mutilate the face and genitals of his victim with a heated screwdriver.
Prosecutors sought a 16-year sentence, but Johnson instead imposed a six-year prison term. Then he explained why.
According to materials released yesterday, the judge said, “I’m not a gynecologist, but I can tell you something. If someone doesn’t want to have sexual intercourse, the body shuts down. The body will not permit that to happen unless a lot of damage in inflicted, and we heard nothing about that in this case. That tells me that the victim in this case, although she wasn’t necessarily willing, she didn’t put up a fight.” Johnson added that the rape of Gurel’s victim was “technical,” and not “a real, live criminal case.” While this is clearly both twisted and nauseating, it’s also a reminder that Todd Akin’s ridiculous perspective on rape was not an aberration. There are still far too many conservatives who actually think this way. One need not be a godless socialist to be offended.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past." Recommended
