Georgia Supreme Court freeing Genarlow Wilson
who has been serving a controversial 10-year sentence for consensual oral sex.
The court's 4-3 decision upholds a Monroe County judge's ruling that the sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment under both the Georgia and U.S. constitutions.
disproportionate" to the teenager's crime and noted that it was out of step with current law.
Wilson was convicted in April 2005 of aggravated child molestation for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl at a 2003 New Year's Eve party in a hotel room. He was 17 at the time.
At the time the crime carried a mandatory 10-year sentence with no parole. However, the law was changed in 2006 to make Wilson's crime a misdemeanor with a maximum 1-year sentence.
"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 ..." wrote Supreme Court Justice Leah Ward Sears in the majority opinion.
She said that "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 disporportionate to his crime."
Justice George Carley, in the dissent, said the 2006 change in the law was specifically written so it would not be retroactive. The sentence is not cruel and unusual because "the General Assembly made the express decision that he cannot benefit from the subsequent legislative determination to reduce the sentence for commission of that crime from felony to misdemeanor status," Carley wrote.
Carley said the majority opinion showed "unprecedented disregard" for the legislative intent of the law change and creates the potential for releases of "any and all defendents who were ever convicted of aggravated child molestation and sentenced" under circumstances similar to Wilson's.
The majority opinion acknowledged that the state's high court rarely overturns sentences on grounds that they are cruel and unusual, but notes that it has done so twice before following legislative changes. It also said a review of other states showed that most "either would not punish Wilson's conduct at all or would, like Georgia now, punish it as a misdemeanor."
Wilson's case has drawn national attention, and a hearing before the Supreme Court in July drew a large crowd of supporters.
He has been in state prison since November 2005 and is currently held at the Al Burruss Correctional Training Facility in Forsyth, Ga.
It wasn't immediately clear how quickly he will be released.
Wilson was arrested following a party also attended by five other male youths. His sex act with the 15-year-old girl was videotaped by one of his friends.
Wilson was also charged of raping a 17-year-old girl at the party but was acquitted of that charge.
Several months after he was convicted of aggravated child molestation, a felony, and given the mandatory 10-year term, Gov. Sonny Perdue signed legislation making consensual sex between a 17-year-old and a 15-year-old a misdemeanor.
The Monroe County judge's decision last June to void the sentence was appealed by Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker, sending the case to the Supreme Court.
Also last summer, Douglas County district attorney David McDade offered Wilson's attorneys a deal in which he could plead guilty to another felony and get a sentence including 5 years of jail time with credit for two years served. Wilson and his lawyers rejected the deal.
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Originally Posted by ahmonrah
. it's just another case of "HEY!we've effectively ****ed up your life, even with overwhelming evidence you did nothing wrong....you're free now, here have a t-shirt!!"
