The Georgia Supreme Court needs to be commended for reversing the
ten-year sentence of Genarlow Wilson, deciding that it constitutes
"cruel and unusual punishment." For those who do not know, Wilson was
convicted in 2005 of aggravated child molestation. His heinous crime
was having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old when he himself was
only 17. He faced years in prison and being labeled a sex offender for
doing what comes naturally to teenagers. In a further blow to
fairness, the Georgia state legistlature changed the law last year to
make these sexual encounters misdemeanors, but did not make it
retroactive--meaning Wilson would remain in prison as a convicted felon.
This is what happens in an uptight, conservative environment in which sex is villifed in the name of religion and values: the ruination of a life. Here we have a young man who was an honor student, football star, and homecoming king, and who is now, as he observantly states, going to major in sociology "because I feel like I've been living my major." He lost two years of his youth to a misguided and deplorable attempt to control teenage sexual exploration. I am confident that more than one of the people who read these words would be "guilty" of a similar "crime."
To further illustrate how ridiculous this conviction truly was: if Wilson and the girl had had consensual intercourse, he would have committed a misdemeanor, thus facing twelve months with no sex offender status. It was the fellatio which made the charge aggravated. Up until 1998, it was illegal in Georgia even for a husband and wife to have oral sex.
And then there is the truly disturbing implication in this: that a 15-year-old girl is incapable, indeed disallowed by law, to consent to sex. There are many reasons why it is not advisable in modern society for either gender to have sex at that age, but it is condescending to unequivocally state that a teenager cannot decide for his or herself. Once again, we see the state, operating in a religious context, attempting to exert control over body and mind.
We should applaud Genarlow Wilson in the way he calmly states that he has no "negative energy" toward the district attorney who fought efforts to get his sentence reduced. After spending two years in prison for a non-crime, how many of us could say the same? If we are vigilent, and continue to fight these enemies of intellectual and sexual freedom who create repressive laws to form their perfect moral society, hopefully we will never be in a position to find out.
ten-year sentence of Genarlow Wilson, deciding that it constitutes
"cruel and unusual punishment." For those who do not know, Wilson was
convicted in 2005 of aggravated child molestation. His heinous crime
was having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old when he himself was
only 17. He faced years in prison and being labeled a sex offender for
doing what comes naturally to teenagers. In a further blow to
fairness, the Georgia state legistlature changed the law last year to
make these sexual encounters misdemeanors, but did not make it
retroactive--meaning Wilson would remain in prison as a convicted felon.
This is what happens in an uptight, conservative environment in which sex is villifed in the name of religion and values: the ruination of a life. Here we have a young man who was an honor student, football star, and homecoming king, and who is now, as he observantly states, going to major in sociology "because I feel like I've been living my major." He lost two years of his youth to a misguided and deplorable attempt to control teenage sexual exploration. I am confident that more than one of the people who read these words would be "guilty" of a similar "crime."
To further illustrate how ridiculous this conviction truly was: if Wilson and the girl had had consensual intercourse, he would have committed a misdemeanor, thus facing twelve months with no sex offender status. It was the fellatio which made the charge aggravated. Up until 1998, it was illegal in Georgia even for a husband and wife to have oral sex.
And then there is the truly disturbing implication in this: that a 15-year-old girl is incapable, indeed disallowed by law, to consent to sex. There are many reasons why it is not advisable in modern society for either gender to have sex at that age, but it is condescending to unequivocally state that a teenager cannot decide for his or herself. Once again, we see the state, operating in a religious context, attempting to exert control over body and mind.
We should applaud Genarlow Wilson in the way he calmly states that he has no "negative energy" toward the district attorney who fought efforts to get his sentence reduced. After spending two years in prison for a non-crime, how many of us could say the same? If we are vigilent, and continue to fight these enemies of intellectual and sexual freedom who create repressive laws to form their perfect moral society, hopefully we will never be in a position to find out.
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