June 20, 2007

Genarlow Wilson's Tragic Sentencing for Consensual Oral Sex

Yet, immediately after the judge's ruling, Georgia's attorney general, Thurbert E. Baker, filed a notice saying that his office would appeal the decision, leaving Wilson stuck in jail. Baker's actions have not only robbed Wilson of his long overdue freedom, they epitomize the insanity of a justice system that seems hell-bent on criminalizing young black men.

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No one, from his teen "victim" to the jurors at his trial, wanted Wilson to go to jail, but at every turn the Georgia justice system and Georgia's legislature failed him -- first convicting him under an archaic law; then passing a law to include oral sex in the minor's exemption but not writing the law so it would apply retroactively; and finally refusing to bring a second bill up for a vote that would have retroactively applied the oral sex exemption and allowed for Wilson's release. It's hard to believe that race is not a factor in this case.

It sure looks like that way. There is absolutely no reason why this man should still be locked up.

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