Georgia court overturns ruling that jailed teen for oral sex
Published: Friday October 26, 2007
del.icio.us del.icio.us
Print This Email This
Court frees U.S. teen jailed 10 years for oral sex
Matthew Bigg
Reuters North American News Service
Oct 26, 2007 11:32 EDT
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Georgia's top court ordered the release Friday of a
youth sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex
with a 15-year-old in a case that sparked a national campaign on his behalf.
In a split decision, the Georgia Supreme Court upheld the ruling of a
lower court judge that the sentence for Genarlow Wilson, who was 17 at
the time, constituted "cruel and unusual punishment" banned under the
U.S. Constitution.
"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,"
Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote in a 4-3 majority opinion.
"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," the opinion said.
Wilson was convicted in 2005 of aggravated child molestation after he
had oral sex at a New Year's Eve party in a hotel in Georgia. The act
was captured on home video.
He was sentenced to a mandatory 10 years in prison without parole. But
in 2006 the law was changed to make a crime such as Wilson's a
misdemeanor punishable with a maximum one-year sentence and no entry
into the child sex registry.
The case sparked legal challenges and a campaign led by civil rights
leaders including Al Sharpton and Joseph Lowery who argued that, while
Wilson's deed was wrong, the sentence was excessive, especially given
that the law had been changed.
They also argued that the sentence would ruin the life of a teenager who
had a good school record, was an athlete on his high school football
team and had no criminal record.
"It's a banner day for Georgia because clearly this was a miscarriage of
justice ... This time the state has come through with flying colors,"
Lowery said in an interview.
"Prosecutors need to be more just and sensitive, less ambitious in their
decisions," he said.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice George Carley said that when the 2006
law was passed the Georgia legislature said that it should not be
applied retroactively.
Source: Reuters North American News Service
Additional links from Reuters North American News Service
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
