Genarlow Wilson: perverted justice

Emil Steiner’s Washington Post OFF/beat updates “the Genarlow Wilson tragedy” noting that the Georgia Legislature Snoozes and a Promising Teen Loses:

The travesty continues. Despite a national outcry to help Genarlow Wilson, the Georgia teen sentenced to ten years in prison for engaging in consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17, the state legislature recessed last week without addressing the issue. Even though that body has already changed the law to make his “crime” a misdemeanor with a maximum sentence of one year, and even though Wilson has already served more than double that time, the Senate failed to push through a measure allowing judges to retroactively adjust earlier sentences. And so, Wilson will continue languishing in the Burruss Correctional Training Center for as many as eight more years. [...]

[N]o one involved—from the supposed victim to the Georgia Supreme Court—actually thinks he belongs in prison, and yet no one seems to be able to do anything about it. The legislature had a real opportunity to right one of the most heinous legal aberrations in recent American history and instead let it slip through the procedural cracks. And while lawmakers may be charged with serving their constituents, it is difficult to imagine in what way their actions (or lack thereof) could have done anything but a disservice to the citizens of the Peach State.

Petition and contact info for Wilson’s attorney. Thanks to A Typical Joe for the update.