Why is Genarlow Wilson in Prison?

Genarlow Wilson sits in prison despite being a good son, a good athlete, high-school homecoming king and high school student with a 3.2 GPA. He never had any criminal trouble. On the day he was to sit for the SAT, at seventeen years old, his life changed forever. A number of the kids at the party, including Genarlow were arrested. In Douglas County he was accused of inappropriate sexual acts at a News Year’s Eve party. Turns out that there was a videotape of the party showing quite a bit of consensual sex taking place.

The other kids involved made plea deals with the prosecution in exchange for lesser prison time. In all, six kids with previous criminal records, except for Genarlow, went to jail. A jury acquitted Genarlow of the allegation of Rape but convicted him of Aggravated Child Molestation for a voluntary act of oral sex with another teenager. He was 17, and she was 15.

Along with the label "child molester" which will require him throughout his life to be on a sexual offender registry, Genarlow received a sentence of eleven years — a mandatory 10 years in prison and 1 year on probation. Two odd factoids for your consideration:

1. On July 1st, the new Romeo and Juliet law went into effect in Georgia for any other teen that engages in consensual sexual acts. That change in the law means that no teen prosecuted for consensual oral sex could receive more than a 12 months sentence or be required to register as a sex offender. Genarlow has been incarcerated since February 25, 2005. Had this law been in effect when Genarlow Wilson was arrested he would not now be in jail.
2. Georgia imposes a lesser penalty on full blown intercourse between minors than for oral sex between minors. If Genarlow had gone ahead and went all the way, he would have only been facing a year in jail.

Yesterday, there were some remarkable developments in the case. Genarlow Wilson was finally freed by a judge. The ridiculous sentencing was overturned after the state of Georgia had already wasted two years of this young man's life. It seemed that the nightmare was over and this young black brother could finally get on with his life.

Yet moments later Georgia District Attorney Thurbert Baker (aka, Uncle Tom or house negro) faxed the celebrating family of young Mr. Wilson that he was appealing the verdict.

As Monroe County Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson stated in his decision to free Genarlow Wilson, "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....If any case fits into the definitive limits of a miscarriage of justice, surely this case does."

It is long past time for this farce to end.

I encourage all villagers to contact Georgia Governor Sonny Purdue and demand that Thurbert Baker's decision to appeal be overturned. Click here to send him a message. When the form asks what is your message choose "other" (the last category) and then type in the box below it "Genarlow Wilson."
For additional information, contact Genarlow’s attorney:


The Bernstein Firm
BJ Bernstein
621 North Avenue, NE, Building E
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
phone: 404-522-1200
fax: 404-810-9092

The Electronic Village came late to this process. Others in the Afrosphere have blogged on this issue before including: Skeptical Brotha, Jack and Jill Politics, Oliver Willis, and Francis Holland.

Well Villagers --> what say u?