Law and Order and Justice?

One might casually assume that, since we live in a nation governed by democratic laws for maintaining societal order, justice must certainly accompany the application of the law. Said differently, we have laws to maintain order; justice, then - the righting of the wrong - is the end product of the application of those laws when they are violated. The assumption that these two distinct systems, the law and its application and then justice, work hand in glove would be a seriously flawed assumption indeed.

Consider the Genarlow Wilson case. Wilson, on December 31, 2003, then 17 years old, was video taped at a New Year's Eve party engaging in consensual sex with another 17 year old, and then receiving consensual oral sex from a 15 year old female partygoer. The 17 year old female alleged that she had been raped by other partygoers, the police entered the subject hotel room, confiscated the video tape, and the local DA pressed charges on a total of 6 male teens. For the complete details of the case see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilson_v._State_of_Georgia

Certainly, the behavior of these teenagers (both male and female) was unacceptable. At trial, the entire video tape was played for the jury numerous times, and all defendants were cleared of rape charges - as the conduct with the 17 year old female was clearly consensual. Interestingly, though, actual intercourse between teens in Georgia at the time of trial was a misdemeanor offense - while oral sex was treated as a felony. And, as the 15 year old was not 16 at the time, she could not legally consent to the act. As Wilson was 17 - although a highschool classmate of the 15 year old, he was prosecuted as an adult. Of note, Wilson had no prior record of any offenses, was a 3.0 GPA or above high school student and had a promising college football career ahead of him.

In this environment, with the jury not allowed to consider any other penalty, they found him guilty of Aggravated Child Molestation - as fully prosecuted by the DA. The charge and the finding of guilt by the jury carried with it at the time a 10 year prison sentence and life time registration as a sex offender. Wilson is currently on his 28th month of incarceration.

See a legal analysis of the case here: http://writ.news.findlaw.com/colb/20070110.html

And see the actual Petition for a Writ of Certiorari here: http://www.wilsonappeal.com/certiorari.html

Subsequent to the Wilson case, the Georgia State Legislature rewrote the law governing teen consensual sex such that all instances of consensual sex of teens are treated as misdemeanors and only aggravating circumstances could equate to a sex offender registry requirement. None of this was available to Wilson at the time of his trial. The legislative reform, though, is of no benefit to Wilson as it is not retroactive.

One has to wonder what forces are at work in Georgia for the Governor, the Mayor and the DA not to act to overturn a 10 year sentence in Wilson's case for a misdemeanor act that now carries a maximum of 12 months imprisonment. What are they thinking??? This case has received fairly solid national coverage, and certainly extensive local coverage.

Regardless of one's moral convictions, 10 years in prison for consensual oral sex between a 15 year old and a 17 year old is clearly excessive. The story continues though.

A local Judge finally had the courage to challenge the sentencing: "A Monroe County judge earlier this month called Wilson's sentence 'a grave miscarriage of justice' and ordered his release, but Baker's office appealed, saying that judge overstepped his authority. Baker argued that the ruling could result in the release of some 1,300 child molesters from Georgia's jails."

Baker is the State Attorney General. See the full story here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19468666/

So, at this point, Wilson has been denied bail while his appeal is being reviewed and remains incarcerated.

Wilson's conduct at that New Year's Eve party warranted some form of punishment - many teenage actions are aborrhent and require correction. In this instance, though, while the law functioned to restore order - an absolute miscarriage of justice occured, and continues to occur as the elected leaders of Georgia fail to take appropriate action to restore justice.

One only has to consider Baker's remark that "the ruling could result in the release of some 1,300 child molesters from Georgia's jails" to see that the leaders have fallen back to ruling by irrational fear - that equating Wilson to a child molester and suggesting that however he is treated will be the standard by which all child molesters will be treated - should be convincing enough evidence that what is at stake here is not justice, but the ego of the Attorney General's office and local DA. If Wilson's case stands as is, without intervention, then we as citizens have lost control of our laws and our justice system - and all of us will eventually suffer for it.

"First they came for the Communists, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I didn’t speak up,
because I wasn’t a Jew.
Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn’t speak up,
because I was a Protestant.
Then they came for me, and by that time there was no one left
to speak up for me."

The point, of course, is that even in a nation of law abiding citizens, injustice is truly only a half-step away from all of us - the sincerely devout freely admit that they are sinners - I'm just not so sure that they would so freely admit it if a 10 year prison sentence was attached to their consensual actions.