Update on Genarlow Wilson

[downtown]

Hey, the girl is only 15...so she can't actually consent, can she?

 

[ironduck]

Signed.

What's the law in the US if two 14 or 15 year olds have sex?

Matt, what's up with the name change?

 

[downtown]

Ironduck-I imagine that vary from state to state. Cases like this one, (or the one you suggested), make a lot of these laws appear rather silly.

As for the name change, because of the nature of my current job, I thought it might not be a good idea to run around posting political opinions with my real name. Obviously, anybody who even sort of tries can figure it out...it was mostly to prevent googling it.

 

[Sidhe]

Remember the kid, convicted for consensual oral sex with a minor and sentenced to 10 years in Georgia. Outrage is growing.

I remember a very lively debate. Now, enjoy these articles, espn.com and new york times, that illuminates a subject I know all too well, having lived right where Genarlow lived.

It's a shame, and a travesty. Just read the ESPN article



http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/o...a8cf6d030c60b7&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss



http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=wilson

Moronic, I can't say any more but will as this is outrageous. This is just a traversty of justice.

If anyone says this is justice,they're an automaton to mindless rule following.

 

[ironduck]

Ironduck-I imagine that vary from state to state. Cases like this one, (or the one you suggested), make a lot of these laws appear rather silly.

I would say the law was silly if it made it illegal in some minor way for a 16 year old to have sex with a 15 year old. But when the 17 year old goes to prison for 10 years for having sex with a 15 year old the law is not 'silly', it's barbaric and loathsome and has no connection to reality whatsoever.

As for the name change, because of the nature of my current job, I thought it might not be a good idea to run around posting political opinions with my real name. Obviously, anybody who even sort of tries can figure it out...it was mostly to prevent googling it.

What are you doing?

 

[downtown]

I would say the law was silly if it made it illegal in some minor way for a 16 year old to have sex with a 15 year old. But when the 17 year old goes to prison for 10 years for having sex with a 15 year old the law is not 'silly', it's barbaric and loathsome and has no connection to reality whatsoever.



What are you doing?

Well, I think the basic gist of laws like this are to establish a min. age for people to actually give consent to sex, and to protect people under that age. I think thats a good idea. Obviously though, you need a provision to account for the age of the other partner. If the guy was 22, and she was 15, I could see a problem (not enough of one maybe to justify 10 years in jail and the term "sex offender", but a problem). A 17 year old though? That I can't see.

I am working in the city hall office of a nieghboring town, as a researcher for the "department of economic development". I'm trying to help bring jobs into an economically depressed part of Ohio...or at least working for the people who are. Most of the people above me work for the local Republican Party...of which I am not a member.

 

[ironduck]

Well, I think the basic gist of laws like this are to establish a min. age for people to actually give consent to sex, and to protect people under that age. I think thats a good idea. Obviously though, you need a provision to account for the age of the other partner. If the guy was 22, and she was 15, I could see a problem (not enough of one maybe to justify 10 years in jail and the term "sex offender", but a problem). A 17 year old though? That I can't see.

Yeah.. but these age limits are always icky to legislate around.. If I remember correctly the age limit here is 16, and perhaps a 16 year old and a 40 year old could be seen as a 'problem' if the 15 and 22 year old are a problem.. yet it's not in legal terms.

Perhaps making it legal for anyone sub-18 to have sex with anyone 15 or over would be workable. When we get to the lower ages (<15) it becomes too complicated to legislate in age terms in my opinion..

 

[downtown]

The way the law was explained to me, as far as Ohio was concerned, was that one should not have sexual contact with anybody under 18, with the exception being if you were less than two years older than the other person. That meant, as an 18 year old, I'd be fine with a 16 year old...not a 15 year old. Now, as I'm about to turn 20, I would avoid all minors.

Is that pefect? I guess not. It might not even be right (its just how we were told to stay out of trouble in high school). I didnt pay much attention, because I only dated girls close to my age.

 

[Shaihulud]

IIRC the girl was white, and her parents were the ones who pushed the whle thing soon, and I have assumed this to be fact through this thread. But just checking: this is true right?

No it is not right. The girl is black and the parents did not push for the whole thing other than reporting it to the police.

 

[Guangxi]

Enough with the personal attacks.

boo hoo.

As for the name change, because of the nature of my current job, I thought it might not be a good idea to run around posting political opinions with my real name. Obviously, anybody who even sort of tries can figure it out...it was mostly to prevent googling it.

well, whenever you were quoted with the old name it stayed the same in the quote. ive seen abaddon quoted as slozenger in old threads.

http://wilsonappeal.com/petition.php

signed. [with pseudonym; guangxi smith]

 

[Trajan12]

I'm definately signing that petition.

 

[A'AbarachAmadan]

Someone in another thread asked what evil is. This sentence is evil and those who won't change it are committing evil. Absolutely ridiculous. The govenor should pardon him now.

 

[JerichoHill]

Adultery and Sodomy are both mortal sins ... he deserves much more than this.

And she deserves to be punished to.

Explain to me why

1) Consensual Oral Sex between minors is considered, under the law at the time, to be a more egregious breach of law than consensual intercourse

2) Why is is a more egregious offense for a 17 year old boy to have oral sex with a 15 year old girl (consensually) than a schoolteacher having sex with her student?

Explain to me why those are logical

EDIT: Thanks to those of you who signed the petition. While a small gesture, its something, and anything here helps. I bet it helps him know that everyday more people sign the petition, and that in one way, he is not alone. I strongly encourage you all to send this story to your friends, as its going to be the public pressure here that sets this boy free, and hopefully while he still has a shot at a good, long, productive life. I would love to help, but sadly, I'd be tied down in conflict of interest with my federal position.

 

[downtown]

2) Why is is a more egregious offense for a 17 year old boy to have oral sex with a 15 year old girl (consensually) than a schoolteacher having sex with her student?
.

Jericho, how can she consent? She's 15.

 

[JerichoHill]

Perhaps consent is the wrong word she was so young, legally she couldn't. However, she initiated it of her own volition, and it wasn't forced.

 

[ShannonCT]

Good news for Genarlow!

Judge: No 10-year sentence for teen sex
By SHANNON McCAFFREY, Associated Press Writer

A Georgia judge ordered the release Monday of a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. The state attorney general, however, said he would appeal.

The judge in his ruling Monday threw out Genarlow Wilson's 10-year sentence and amended it to misdemeanor aggravated child molestation with a 12-month term, plus credit for time served.

Under the ruling, Wilson, who has been behind bars for more than two years, would be released and would not be required to register as a sex offender.

"If this court or any court cannot recognize the injustice of what has occurred here, then our court system has lost sight of the goal our judicial system has always strived to accomplish ... justice being served in a fair and equal manner," wrote Judge Thomas H. Wilson, no relation to Genarlow Wilson.

Wilson's original sentence, for aggravated child molestation, was widely criticized on the grounds it was grossly disproportionate to the crime. State lawmakers later passed a law to close the loophole that led to the 10-year term.

"The fact that Genarlow Wilson has spent two years in prison for what is now classified as a misdemeanor, and without assistance from this Court, will spend eight more years in prison, is a grave miscarriage of justice," the judge wrote.

Wilson's defense lawyers were ecstatic as the ruling came in. But lawyer B.J. Bernstein later announced that the attorney general's office had filed notice of appeal, which she believes it meant to put a stop to Wilson's immediate release.

She said she plans to look into filing a bond to release him while the appeal is pending.

"It is extremely, extremely disturbing that the attorney general would take this action now," she said. "In essence the attorney general is saying, 'Keep Genarlow Wilson in prison for 10 years and keep him on the sex offender registry.'"

The attorney general's office did not immediately comment.

A Georgia Department of Corrections spokeswoman said the agency cannot take any action regarding Wilson nor comment on his case until it receives a copy of the judge's order. Wilson's lawyers said they expected to talk with prison officials in the afternoon.

When the judge's order arrived Monday morning, Wilson's lawyers had applauded and hugged his mother, who wiped away tears.

"I just feel like a miracle happened," said Wilson's mother, Juannessa Bennett.

A jury had found Wilson, an honor student, guilty in 2005 of aggravated child molestation for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl during a 2003 New Year's Eve party involving alcohol and marijuana. Although the sex act was consensual, it was illegal under Georgia law.

Wilson was also charged with rape for being one of several male partygoers at the Douglas County hotel to have sex with a 17-year-old girl, but was acquitted. The party was captured on a videotape that was played for the jury.

Several influential people, including former President Jimmy Carter, stepped forward to support Wilson.

Here's a photo of Georgia's evil Attorney General, in case anyone in Georgia happens to see him whilst carrying a carton of eggs:

 

[Masquerouge]

What exactly is the Attorney General trying to achieve here? Look tough on crime?

 

[Fifty]

Well that's good news! Hopefully the appeal doesn't work!

 

[ShannonCT]

What exactly is the Attorney General trying to achieve here? Look tough on crime?

Winning is more important than justice.

 

[ParkCungHee]

Hey, the girl is only 15...so she can't actually consent, can she?

She can to another minor.