Excessive punishment for sex act?
 

What do you think? Is the punishment excessive?

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Outrage After Teen Gets 10 Years for Oral Sex With Girl
Georgia Reconsiders Law That Imprisoned High School Senior

Feb. 7, 2006 — A wild New Year's Eve two years ago has landed a Georgia teen in prison for 10 years on charges of child molestation in a case that has state legislators reworking the strict law that put him behind bars.

Genarlow Wilson and a group of friends had the kind of bash no parent would want their teenager to attend. Crime scene investigators combing the room in a Days Inn in the small town of Douglasville, Ga., found evidence of drinking, as well as condoms and wrappers littered all over. Plus, there was a video camera.


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Extremely excessive...

WOW ... extremely excessive. In my opinion there was no crime committed. They all need their tails kicked for that party, but the parents could have easily done that.

The "victim" must've been white.

yep

Why did I know the victim was white? Excessive is an understatement. So I guess the so-called 'victim' doesn't bear any responsibility in this? If you don't use your head and put yourself in the wrong type of situations it doesn't make sense for you to be hollering foul or rather rape.

"Racism is still alive... they just be (doing a POOR job at) concealing it..." ~ Kanye

This is deja vu. Someone needs to teach young black men that getting sexually involved with white women/girls can be dangerous.

That is a crying out shame. I hope he gets aquitted, but in the mean time I hope parents use that case as an example. Especially to teach our young brothers what could easily happen when you deal with (:eek: ) the victim

Please forgive me for crashing, and also for not being completely able to put myself in your (collective) shoes.

IMHO, with the current age of children having sex at an average of 12 years old, the age of consent has to be changed. The video clearly seems to show that there's no lack of consent, just that the law - as it stands - was broken.

This young man has everything going for him - except that he had sex with a girl (of whatever color) who was underage. This is also a travesty.

Instead of letting Genarlow Wilson get an education and get into the work force, he will be getting a criminal education, so that he can end up in jail or on probation for the rest of his life. This is using the law for the worst of excuses if ever I've seen it.

I am absolutely certain that something exactly like this happened about 2(?) years ago in Georgia(?).

Young 18 male athelete had consensual sex with a white 16 year old. He had college prospects and all. I believe that guy got like 10 years.

No one cares it is sex with two blacks or even if the male was white. This racism is so blatant, you can smell it.


AWFUL:mad:

Teena, i do believe you are right. I remember that case now, also in Georgia the same circumstances. I was upset than and even more mad now that it has happen again.:mad:

This may or may not be racism, I don't know. Do we know that the 15 year old in this case was indeed white or are we speculating? I did not see that anywhere. Oh...just saw that MsSweetness said she was white. Was that information in the article?

Anyway, the legistator that sponsored this bill orginally is a black man, so I don't think the genesis of the law was racist.

I dont know if the 15 year old is white.

The genesis may not have been racist, but the interpretation of the law can go anyway the interpretor wants it to go.

I may be thinking about another case, but I think after a petition drive that young man was pardoned.

ETA: I see that his charge was reduced to statuatory rape upon appeal, and his sentenced reduced to the time already served--15 months.

You might be right. But that was after he was sentenced?

The Douglasville Six case, McDade insists, in no way detracts from his long-standing track record. McDade says that critics are merely playing the proverbial race card. “I think there is an attempt to shy away from a focus on the specifics of this case by some who would like to use any case to create racial disharmony in this community,” he says. “I think the members of the black community should stand up and say, ‘We don’t condone the behavior of these young men.’” Had he not pursued charges against the boys, his critics could have just as easily chastised him for failing to protect the rights of the two black females. “I’m standing up for African-American victims in this case, as I would for any white victim,” says McDade, an alum of Douglas County High, where he played baseball. “Calling me a racist denigrates the people who are victims in this case.”

http://www.atlantamagazine.com/article.php?id=158

I pulled this excerpt from Atlanta Magazine. McDade is the District Attorney. The 'victims' are both African American.

The article is actually very good. You should check it out. It also speaks to the publicity that Marcus Dixon (the young man from about 2 years ago) and the lack of publicity this case is getting.

ETA: I don't think McDade is in a position to tell the black community what they should do, but I do think that ALL of our children--male and female--need to be protected--sometimes from themselves, sometimes from others that look like them, and sometimes from a racist system. We as a people should be just as outraged in any of these situations.

Thanks for the correct info!

To the attorneys on here:

If the legislators are successful in rewriting the law and making the offense a misdeamnor could it then be grandfathered into this case?

No. They are all Black. I have relatives in Douglassvileand Winston, who are familiar with the case.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by teena
[B]I am absolutely certain that something exactly like this happened about 2(?) years ago in Georgia(?).

Young 18 male athelete had consensual sex with a white 16 year old. He had college prospects and all. I believe that guy got like 10 years.

As another poster stated I think you're talking about Marcus Dixon. I was in Atlanta at the time all of that happened. Her father was racist so she was basically trying to protect herself. The sex was consensual not rape. Fortunately everything turned out ok for him but it's a bad situation to find yourself in. Oprah really backed him and offered to pay for his college tuition. She originally was sending him to Morehouse but then told him he could choose. He is now a student at Hampton U.

This case really made me upset. I saw the coverage on Primetime Live. It's so unfortunate that his life is being destroyed in this manner. I hope he doesn't have to serve the entire sentence and can continue with his education and life.

I saw the video on Good Morning America. The girl was blurred out, but it was obvious what she was doing. ;)

It appeared consentual on both of their parts. No one was forced and both were thoroughly enjoying themselves. I think thats really unfair to punish the boy when the girl was obviously a willing partner.

I am not sure whats worse, that the county has a pattern of descrimination in these cases or that the DA's blithe defense is that he would cheerfully ruin a white kid's life over this just as quickly.

WE need to stop trying to legislate social issues like that.

Well then, I'm sure glad no one here jumped to conclusions and pulled the race card.:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

If you havent been where I've been and seen what I've seen, you will not understand the conclusions that I will jump to.

In the AA community, we get the short end of the justice stick, all the time, even today. So if I 'jump to conclusions' it is a naturall response from what I see and have seen. It is not a card game. It is what I see all the time in the media and in the work place. I'm wrong this time, it doesnt mean it doesnt happen, on the regular.

Since I brought this up in the other thread...I was biting my tounge before on this, but I'm just going to go ahead and say it:

Some of you were being extremely racist at the begining of this thread. Racism works both ways.

I do believe that the punishment in this case is way too harsh for the crime, BUT the law does not say that you can aquit someone because you don't like the punishment. He broke a law and got caught. The jury has no choice but to find him guilty -regardless of his race or what he's got "going for him". If he's going to find reprive, he needs to find another way, maybe write the govenor for a pardon.

All you had to do was say what you felt in here, instead of making a butt of yourself in the other thread. However, I completely disagree with you. All laws are not good laws. It was once a law against me having freedom. There have also been laws that said you shouldn't have a Mexcasion baby. Would you not want people voicing concerns for your right to live your PERSONAL life as you want, without government interference?

Or would you prefer to be force to write the "govenor" for a "reprive?"

I NEVER said it was a good law. There is a reason for it, but it needs revised. It's designed so that same 15-year old doesn't commit sexual acts with a 30-year old, however the 17 year old got caught up in the letter of the law.

I don't know about NC, but when I lived in IL statutory laws had brackets (at least I think I remember learning it like this in Sociology) where a 15 year old could be with a 17 year old because they we within 2 years of eachother (actually, I think it's 3 years max).

Either way, it doesn't matter. MY POINT was that they cannot aquit him because the minimum punishment is too harsh. If he is guilty, they HAVE to find him guilty, legally, no matter how bad the law is.

AlphaFrog,

I don't think that anyone has questioned the jurors and their application of the law. We all know and understand that once an issue is taken to court, then it is the letter of the law that must stand.

However, what people were questioning was the original intention of the person(s) who chose to prosecute this young man in the 1st place. As has already been mentioned, there was recently a case very similar to this where a young man was accused of rape after having what was found to be consensual sex with a younger girl. In this instance Yes the girl was white and Yes her father had some very strong feelings about his daughter being with a black man. This was believed to be the motivation by many people viewing and invloved in the case including the young man's, white adoptive parents.

Furthermore this is a scenario that many of us have seen played out in smaller settings time and time again. I primarily have heard of instances where interacial couples have been stopped and extensively questioned by the police for little or no reason other than that individuals displeasure with their relationship. While it is with out a doubt that some people in this thread made assumptions without 1st investigating the facts, it is undeniable that their assumptions have proved true many times in this country's history. Certainly their assumptions were not unfounded. I don't understand why there is such resistance to the notion that racism still occurs everyday in this nation and that many of us have experienced it 1st hand. Hence it is quite feasible that many people would be concerned when they hear a story that starts out like another that they've heard many times before.

Quoted because I appreciate you ability to present your opinion respectfully and courtiously without name calling or degrading someone else with a different opinion.

I completely agree with most of what you said.:)

I just knew, knew, KNEW a white sorority member was going to come in and say the African Americans on this board were being racist.

I'm from Georgia, and this is an old refrain that I've seen played over and over and over again. Two teenagers, one a black male over the age of consent, the other a white female underaged, have consensual sex. White female gets scared, or her family finds out, charges them with rape. Georgia still has racism heavily ingrained in its systems, and the young black man usually gets in a lot of trouble.

Sisterfriends weren't being racist, they were stating a truth that happens over and over again to African American men, and has been happening since way back when. Actually, I was more shocked when I found out that the girl was black than I would've been if she were white.

Is there that much of a difference in a 30 year old getting oral sex froma 15 year old girl and a 17 year old? Enough of a difference for 10 years in jail?

Oral sex is a voluntary act.

Or did she understand what she was doing when it was the 17 year old boy, but would not understand why a penis was in her mouth if the person was older . . . at some magical cut off age?

We have to really becareful when we legislate social issues.

The legal excuse for a lot of these laws is to prevent teen pregnancy. If they really wanted to do that they would have to charge the underage girl for having sex.

I don't agree with that either.

From my understanding, this young man was charged with something similar to child molestation. Since he has been convicted, then not only is he going to spend the next 10 years in jail, but he also must register as a convicted sex criminal for the rest of his life. However, I believe that the argument being made here is that in many states this law has a caveat that excludes teenages who are together engaging in a consensual relationship. This is what the young man's lawyer is pushing to have put into place in order to have his sentence overturned.

If this is the case, then this is not quite the same as the laws designed to prevent teenage pregnancy. Additionally, it must be noted that the ability of a 30 yr old to manipulate a 15 yr old into doing something inappropriate is a bit different than that of a 17yr old. No there isn't a magical cut-off that we can identify to prevent mis-applications of the law such as this one. However, a loop hole such as the one that they are requesting would help cut down on some of the ambiguity.