A few months ago, US gymnast Aly Raisman spoke out about the abuse she faced from Larry Nassar, the osteopathic physician for USA Gymnastics. After Raisman came forward with her story, others were inspired to do the same. On January 24th of this year, Nassar was sentenced to 40 to 175 years in prison. Here are a few reasons to love the judge that sentenced him.
1. She served in the National Guard.
Aquilina was in the National Guard for 20 years and retired in 2006.
2. She was not afraid to call Nassar out in front of the courtroom or the entire world.
In the courtroom, Aquilina told Nassar, “I find that you don’t get it, that you’re a danger. That you remain a danger”.
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3. Although Nassar only plead guilty to 10 counts of sexual assault, Aquilina allowed more than 140 of his accusers to come forward and make statements.
Nassar tried to oppose this, but Aquilina did not care; she allowed all of the women to come forward and give victim impact statements.
4. She tore up a letter that Nassar wrote about how hard it was for him to listen to so many victim testimonies.
The letter stated that, “Those patients that are now speaking out are the same ones that praised and came back over and over…The media convinced them that everything I did was wrong and bad. They feel I broke their trust.” Obviously, Aquilina couldn’t care less about Nassar’s feelings and I think we care all understand why.
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5. She has been praised by many members of the USA Gymnastics Team who faced his abuse, as well as people from all over the world.
Simone Biles, Aly Raisman and more have shared their thanks on social media since the sentencing occurred.
I think we can all take a lesson or two from Judge Aquilina on being the ultimate #girlboss.