Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Flaws in the Laws

Meet Genarlow Wilson.


A judge on Monday ordered the release of a man who is serving a widely criticized 10-year prison sentence without parole for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17.

And before the tears of joy could be wiped away, Georgia's attorney general immediately filed an appeal, despite the fact that the Georgia legislature has closed the loophole which allowed this to happen. And for some odd reason it was not retroactive when passed.

This is absurd injustice.
Under a “Romeo and Juliet” provision in the law, Mr. Wilson would have been guilty of only a misdemeanor had the act been intercourse. But no one had thought to include oral sex in that exception when the law was enacted, and after the trial, jurors said they had been unaware of the 10-year minimum for the felony.

[...]

And he has refused to take a standing plea deal, offered by the district attorney who prosecuted him, that would reduce his sentence but require him to register as a sex offender.

And rightly so. He's NOT a sex offender. Jesus Christ. Let the man go. Would this have happened if Mr. Wilson was white?

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