Genarlow Wilson is serving a 10 year no parole sentence for having oral sex with a 15 year old when he was 17. There was a party, there was a video tape and there was a conviction under an old law that since his trial has been fixed, but not retroactively. No one believes he should be serving time for something that was consensual.

It’s frustrating work. No one involved believes Wilson should be in jail for 10 years.

The prosecutors don’t.

The Supreme Court doesn’t.

The legislature doesn’t.

The 15-year-old “victim” doesn’t.

The forewoman of the jury doesn’t.

Privately, even prison officials don’t.

…Just two years into a 10-year sentence without possibility of parole, he peers through the thick glass and bars, trying to catch a glimpse of freedom. Outside, guard towers and rolls of coiled barbed wire remind him of who he is.

…Wilson refused to admit to being a child molester. If he pled to or was convicted of any charge that put him on the sex offender registry, he couldn’t live at home with his younger sister. He wouldn’t accept that, so he waited for his trial.

…The first time the Supreme Court voted on Genarlow’s case, it was 4-3. The four judges who voted against the black teen were white. The three judges who voted for him were black.

Doesn’t the justice system make you feel like we have gotten all the bad guys off the streets?

via espn.com

Tags: Astounding

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