One of the Worst Miscarriages of Justice Ever!!!

Some miscarriages of justice are so mind boggling that you have to wonder what the people connected with the case are thinking. Such is the case of Genarlow Wilson.

He is in prison for ten years for having consensual oral sex with a fifteen year old girl when he was seventeen. All parties connected with the case agree that the girl initiated the act. She refused to press charges or testify against him. Even her mother agrees that it is a miscarriage of justice, and that charges never should have been filed. Yet for that he gets ten years in prison?

He's not a bad kid, either. He had a 3.2 grade point average, was homecoming king, and a very good athlete. He was being recruited by Ivy League colleges. He had never been in trouble with the law. It seemed like he had a very promising career ahead of him. On the day he was to take his SAT test, he was arrested.

So far he has spent over two years in prison. A judge ruled for his release, but the Georgia Attorney General filed an appeal, so he is still incarcerated.

If there is an case that cries out for action, it is this one.

If you want to do something, go to the link in the letter I copied and pasted below, and sign their petition. Then send the letter out to your family and friends, like I have done.

Let your voice be heard!

____________________________________________________________________________________
Dear Friend,

On Monday, a judge finally dismissed the sentence of Genarlow
Wilson--the honor roll student and homecoming king serving ten years
in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15 year old when he was
17. Immediately after the ruling, Thurbert Baker, Georgia's Attorney
General
appealed it--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. The New York Times, former
President Jimmy Carter, the NAACP and thousands of others have called
for Wilson to be released. I've signed on with ColorofChange.org to
call on the Attorney General to withdraw his appeal now. Will you join
us?

http://www.colorofchange.org/genarlow/?id=1914-61884

At a New Year's Eve party in 2003, Genarlow Wilson had consensual oral
sex with another teen--she was 15 and he was 17. Under an old Georgia
law, he was convicted of aggravated child molestation, a charge
intended for adult sexual predators, and sentenced to a mandatory
minimum 10 years in prison. If Wilson had engaged in sexual
intercourse with the same girl, it would have been a misdemeanor under
an exemption for contact between minors. 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 legislature
failed him--convicting him under an archaic Georgia law; passing a law
that could have freed him but not applying it retroactively; and then
blocking a second bill that would have allowed for Wilson's release.

It's hard to believe that race is not a factor in this case. According
to the NAACP, around the same time that Wilson was sentenced, a high
school teacher was convicted of having sex with a student. The white
female teacher was sentenced to just 90 days in the same Georgia
courthouse that sentenced Wilson to 10 years. While Wilson's
prosecutor claimed that he was "standing up for African-American
victims in this case," he hardly seems credible, since the "victim"
did not want to press charges and did not even testify for the
prosecution.

In his statement overturning Wilson's sentence on Monday, Superior
Court Judge Thomas Wilson said: "If any case fits into the definitive
limits of a miscarriage of justice, surely this case does." Why, then,
is Georgia's Black Attorney General trying to keep Wilson in jail?
Baker says he's compelled to appeal, but as Attorney General, it is
completely at his discretion. He's ignoring the outrage of nearly
everyone associated with the case, and thousands of Americans across
the country, by keeping this innocent young black man in jail.

Clearly, justice is not being served by Wilson's continued
incarceration.  Will you join us in telling Attorney General Baker to
withdraw his appeal and allow Genarlow Wilson to go home once and for
all?

http://www.colorofchange.org/genarlow/?id=2145-173495

Thanks.