Supreme Court frees Genarlow Wilson
 

By SCOTT THURSTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 10/26/07

The Georgia Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of Genarlow Wilson, the Douglas County
teenager who has been serving a controversial 10-year sentence for consensual oral sex.
The court's 4-3 decision upholds a Monroe County judge's ruling that the sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment under both the Georgia and U.S. constitutions.

The majority opinion said the sentence appeared to be "grossly disproportionate" to the teenager's crime and noted that it was out of step with current law.
Wilson was convicted in 2005 of aggravated child molestation for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a New Year's Eve party in a hotel room. He was 17 at the time.
At the time the law the crime carried a mandatory 10-year sentence with no parole. However, the law was changed in 2006 to make Wilson's crime a misdemeanor with a maximum 1-year sentence.
"Although society has a significant interest in protecting children from premature sexual activity, we must acknowledge that Wilson's crime does not rise to the level of culpability of adults who prey on children ..." wrote Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears in the majority opinion.
She said that "for the law to punish Wilson as it would an adult, with the extraordinarily harsh punishment of 10 years in prison without the possibility of probation or parole, appears to be grossly disproportionate to his crime."
Justice George Carley, in the dissent, said the 2006 change in the law was specifically written so it would not be retroactive. The sentence is not cruel and unusual because "the General Assembly made the express decision that he cannot benefit from the subsequent legislative determination to reduce the sentence for commission of that crime from felony to misdemeanor status."

http://www.ajc.com/services/content/...svc=7&cxcat=13


About flipping time....heck...if they arrest a lot of us for some of the things we did as teens........we would be doing life sentences....glad to see someone came to thier senses.

That poor kids life was put on hold, if not ruined, because of this nonsense sentancing. He was doing with another teeneager consenually what some teenagers do and ended up going to prison for it. Such a shame!!!!

And the dissent opinion seems to ignore the fact that the law was changed in 2006 because of this case, retroactive or not.

they didn't ignore it but they purposefully made it so that it wouldn't be retroactive due to the fear that it would let out a lot of child molesters prematurely also.


Thanks to Thurbert Baker (Ga. Atty General)

Good to hear.

about damn time

Genarlow Wilson to Attend Morehouse University

By ERRIN HAINES, Associated Press Writer
Thu Jan 10, 3:37 PM ET


ATLANTA - Genarlow Wilson, whose case sparked protests after he was imprisoned for having consensual sex with a fellow teen, will attend Morehouse College with the help of a radio talk show host's foundation.


"Morehouse is a very good school," Wilson said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press on Thursday. "It has a lot of history, so it's definitely an honor to be accepted."

Wilson was sentenced to 10 years in prison on felony charges for having sex with a 15-year-old girl at a 2003 New Year's Eve party in Douglas County; he was 17 at the time. His case became a cause celebre highlighting disparities in the criminal justice system.

The Georgia Supreme Court freed him on Oct. 26, after he had spent nearly three years in prison. The court called his sentence "cruel and unusual punishment."

Tom Joyner, a syndicated urban radio host, said Wilson deserves a second chance.
"I asked him, 'Now that you're out, what are you going to do?'" said Joyner. "He said, 'I'd like to try to get my education.' So I said, 'Well, let me help you out, see if I can't get you into one of my beloved historically black colleges.'"

The Tom Joyner Foundation is giving Wilson a scholarship to cover his tuition and room and board, Joyner said. The foundation has raised more than $55 million and helped thousands of students attend historically black colleges across the country, including Morehouse.

Sterling Hudson, Morehouse's dean of admissions and records, said Wilson will enter during the spring semester, which begins next week. He said the new student will live in a residence hall with older students, and will "be taking baby steps on the academic side."

Wilson, now 21, said he hopes to use his education to mentor kids "in unfortunate situations." He is considering several courses of study, including history, education and sociology.

"Sociology is how you deal with adversity," Wilson said. "I've pretty much lived that major already, so I feel like I can really relate to it because I have such a passion for it."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080110/...een_sex_case_1

Interesting.