A judge in Georgia has granted Genarlow Wilson’s habeas plea, holding that his sentence was a violation of cruel and unusual punishment. For those of you who don’t know, Wilson was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex as a 17-year old with a 15-year old girl. He had no criminal record, good grades, and, lets face it, teenagers two years apart in age having oral sex should not be a crime at all (much less a 10 year felony). His case, quite justifiably, stirred a national outrage, and Georgia has since modified the law used to prosecute Wilson (however, quite churlishly, they didn’t apply it retroactively, so Wilson remained in jail).
Much of the chatter right now is asserting that Wilson is to be freed. But that’s not the case–at least not yet. For, in an incredible display of chutzpah, tone-deafness, and outright indifference to basic norms of justice, the DA state Attorney General has announced it is appealing the decision, and Wilson will remain in jail as that proceeding occurs.
Much has been made of the “breakdown” in justice that occured during the Duke rape case. In many ways, this is quite accurate–certainly, the hell the three Duke lacrosse players went through is something that a better system might have been able to avoid. Even with the charges dropped, they will undoubtedly remain tainted in the eyes of some. And their legal bills are probably sky-high. At the same time, the Duke case in many ways exemplifies the system working. The three defendants never were sentenced to a day in jail. The case never even reached trial. They had access to the best legal talent and representation, and were thus able to get all the evidence out in the open. And when the DA realized (belatedly) that the facts weren’t there to make the case, the charges were dropped.
Genarlow Wilson, by contrast, has spent two years in prison for a “crime” that no sensible person thinks deserves prosecution. At every turn, the prosecutor’s office refused to treat the case in a manner consistent with the gravity of the “offense”, using its discretion to prosecute Wilson under the harshest possible statute and denying him “first offender” status despite the fact that he was a, you know, first “offender.” This is what a breakdown in justice looks like. And though it finally looks like things may be turning in the right direction for Mr. Wilson, it’s taken too far long, and the DA’s office state continues to fight tooth-and-nail for an unjust and vindictive prosecution.