Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Genarlow Wilson and the Racist Red State of Georgia



Washington Post blogger Emil Steiner has the latest on the kid who got ten years without parole for one night of consensual sex with another kid. Despite the national outcry, Georgia lawmakers have done nothing to rectify this outrageous violation of human rights. The kid who was once Homecoming King and honor roll student sits in prison with eight more years to go.

And people wonder why the world thinks this country sucks.

WaPo:

The travesty continues. Despite a national outcry to help Genarlow Wilson, the Georgia teen sentenced to ten years in prison for engaging in consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, the state legislature recessed last week without addressing the issue. Even though that body has already changed the law to make his “crime” a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of one year, and even though Wilson has already served more than double that time, the Senate failed to push through a measure allowing judges to retroactively adjust earlier sentences. And so, Wilson will continue languishing in the Burruss Correctional Training Center for as many as eight more years.

For those not familiar with the case, in 2003, Wilson was a 17-year-old senior at Douglas County High with a 3.2 GPA and football skills that had caught the attention of a several Ivy League schools. He was popular among students and teachers and had been voted Homecoming King. That all changed after a New Year's Eve party during which he received oral sex from a 10th-grader. She was 15 and by all accounts the initiator. At the time, Georgia law stipulated that it was "a misdemeanor for teenagers less than three years apart to have sexual intercourse," but a felony for them to have oral sex. Despite the inconsistency in severity of the two laws, Wilson was found guilty of aggravated child molestation, which carried a mandatory 10 years without parole. . . [via aTypical Joe]

Petition and contact info for Wilson’s attorney.

Previous TGW posts:
Don't Take Your Kids to Georgia
Ten Years of Prison for One Night of Sex