Genarlow Wilson: Free at Last

ABC: A handout photo from the office of his attorney, shows 17-year-old Genarlow Wilson, now 21. Wilson has currently served more than two years of a ten-year prison sentence for having consensual oral sex when he was 17 with a 15-year-old girl in 2003. (Genarlow Wilson)
cnn.com: Court says teen sex conviction 'cruel and unusual' punishment

ATLANTA, Georgia (AP) -- The Supreme Court of Georgia ordered Friday that Genarlow Wilson be released from prison, ruling that his sentence for a teen sex conviction was cruel and unusual punishment.

ABCNews.com: Court: Free Teen Jailed for Consensual Sex
Georgia Supreme Court Found a 10-Year Sentence for Oral Sex With Fellow Teen 'Cruel'

Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote in the majority opinion that the changes in the law "represent a seismic shift in the legislature's view of the gravity of oral sex between two willing teenage participants."

Sears wrote that the severe punishment makes "no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment" and that Wilson's crime did not rise to the "level of adults who prey on children."

Edited to add: Click on the label "Genarlow Wilson", below, to read all posts on this travesty of justice. This kid served two years for a blow job; Scooter Libby committed treason & he's sitting home free.

Too Hot to Blog

Yankees captain Derek Jeter meets C. Vivian Stringer, head coach of the Rutgers women's basketball team, before Friday night's game. (Julie Jacobson/AP)
I know I've used this a post title before, but really, 94 degrees in June? It's like living in a swamp.

Here are some updates on stories we've covered previously:

Anucha Browne Sanders has finally landed another job, as the senior Associate Athletic Director for marketing and senior women's administrator for the University at Buffalo (what in the old days we would have called SUNY Buffalo, I guess UB sounds trendier.)

A New York investor and ten other business leaders have offered to put up Genarlow Wilson's $1 million bond so that he can be free pending appeal. Even Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker's pastor thinks Genarlow Wilson should be released, but still he rots in jail. What a waste.

Rutgers women's basketball team and coach Vivian Stringer have been awarded the 2007 Irv Grossman Award of Merit by the Collegiate Women Sports Awards Program at Columbia University, for their play as well as their dignity and grace under pressure during the Imus imbroglio. They've also been nominated for an ESPY. They were also honored by the Yankees at Yankee Stadium two weeks ago. Turns out Derek Jeter is a big supporter and wrote a letter to the team after l'affaire Imus.

Pokey Chatman settled her lawsuit against LSU.

Bombard Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker: Set Genarlow Wilson Free

Judge Thomas H. Wilson ruled today that Genarlow Wilson's sentence be set aside and he be released for his time served (27 months).

The judge's ruling Monday threw out Wilson's 10-year sentence and amended it to misdemeanor aggravated child molestation with a 12-month term, plus credit for time served, and he would not be required to register as a sex offender.

"The fact that Genarlow Wilson has spent two years in prison for what is now classified as a misdemeanor, and without assistance from this court, will spend eight more years in prison, is a grave miscarriage of justice," wrote Judge Thomas H. Wilson, who is no relation to Genarlow Wilson.

"If this court or any court cannot recognize the injustice of what has occurred here, then our court system has lost sight of the goal our judicial system has always strived to accomplish ... justice being served in a fair and equal manner," the judge wrote.

The Georgia Attorney General immediately announced that he would appeal the ruling. Thurbert Baker (that's him in the picture) is a Democrat, but he was originally appointed by Zell Miller, so he's no progressive. And this is just idiotic. Under current law, Genarlow Wilson could only get a maximum penalty of six months. He's served 27. What end does it serve for him to rot in jail? The appeal of this ruling is just idiotic. So let's protest, again. As my brother said in an email today, "Bombard these idiots until they get it right!" Here are the telephone and fax numbers of the AGs; below is a link to a contact form that lets you email Georgia governor Sonny Purdue and ask him to remove AG Baker.

OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF GEORGIA
THURBERT E. BAKER
40 CAPITOL SQUARE, SW
ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30334
Phone: 404-656-3300
FAX: 404-657-8733

Thurbert E. Baker
Attorney General
Phone: 404-656-3300
FAX: 404-657-8733

Jeff L. Milsteen
Chief Deputy Attorney General
Phone: 404-656-3347
FAX: 404-657-8733

Mary Beth Westmoreland
Deputy Attorney General
Criminal Justice Division
Phone: 404-656-3349
FAX: 404-651-6459

Daryl A. Robinson
Counsel to the Attorney General
Phone: 404-651-6194
FAX: 404-651-7676

Russ Willard
Director of Communications
Phone: 404-463-7540
FAX: 404-651-7676

David S. McLaughlin
Special Prosecutions
Phone: 404-651-5805
FAX: 404-651-7676

Trey Ellis, Huffington Post: Save Genarlow Wilson, Remove Attorney General Thurbert Baker

Click here to sent [AG Baker] a message.

When the form asks what is your message choose "other" (the last category) and then type in the box below it "Genarlow Wilson."