Remove Judge William H. Follett for Giving Rapist Nolan Bruder a 4-Month Sentence!

20-year-old Nolan Bruder confessed to drugging and raping his 16-year-old sister. This wasn't the first time he abused her; he also molested her when she was seven. And yet, he will only spend four months in jail.

Del Norte County Superior Court Judge William H. Follett must be removed from the bench for this irresponsible decision.

The incident happened last summer when Bruder and his younger sister were doing "dabs," i.e. concentrated doses of marijuana that are heated and inhaled. The victim said that he got her so stoned that she "no longer recognized him as her brother,” and then he repeatedly asked her to have sex with him despite her saying no. This wasn’t the first time he pressured her to have sex with him, but this was the first time she eventually gave in because she was so intoxicated and could no longer say "no."

Last year, California passed a law mandating stiffer punishments for perpetrators of sexual assault following the infamous Brock Turner rape case, but Judge Follett did not have to apply the law due to a technicality. When justifying his light sentence, Judge Follett stated that the "stigma" of a conviction would be enough to deter Bruder from repeating his horrendous actions.

However, before the sentence was handed down, the case was reviewed by three probation officers who recommended Bruder be sentenced to six years in prison and denied probation. The probation officers concluded that Bruder "showed no real remorse and seemed smug."

Harsher punishments cannot rectify or remedy the trauma experienced by sexual assault survivors, however, too many judges are letting young men get away with rape with nothing more than a slap on the wrist.

This troubling trend cannot continue. Our judges must treat rape as the serious crime it is.

Please join in demanding that Judge William H. Follett be removed from the bench!