Why is Genarlow Wilson In Jail???
Posted by caclarkfrieson on March 11, 2006
Could This Happen To Your Child? Your Brother? Your Friend?
Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson, Associate Editor
Genarlow Wilson sits in prison despite being a good son, a good athlete and high school student with a 3.2 GPA. He never had any criminal trouble. A recent article that appeared in Atlanta Magazine described Genarlow as a “football player and track star, homecoming king and honor-roll student.” On the day he was to sit for the SAT, at seventeen years old, his life changed forever. He was arrested.
The story has now been retold many times, in print media including newspapers and Atlanta Magazine. It was again re-told just this past Thursday (March 9) on Good Morning America and PrimeTime Live. In short, After a New Year’s party, that has been described as “wild,” Genarlow was one of six Douglasville teens charged with Child Molestation under a legal technicality. According to Genarlow’s attorney, B.J. Bernstein about 14 teenagers had attended the party. Chandra R. Thomas (Atlanta Magazine) reported that initially, the parents “hired attorneys, and all of the boys vehemently maintained their innocence. But, none of them or their families had the faintest notion that their actions that New Year’s Eve night would haunt them for the rest of their lives. At first the young men—dubbed “the Douglasville Six” by local media—stood united.
But as the reality of the charges stacked against them began to sink in, the pressure began to mount.” One by one, the boys began to buckle, and signed documents accepting pleas to lesser charges in exchange for lighter prison terms. But, Genarlow was the one boy who refused to take a plea.
In Douglas County, he was accused of inappropriate sexual acts at the now infamous party. The trial, began on February 21, 2005 and lasted until February 25, 2005 when the jury acquitted him of the allegation of Rape, but convicted him of Aggravated Child Molestation for a voluntary act of oral sex with another teenager. He was 17 and she was 15. At the time of the conviction, Wilson’s mother Juanessa Bennett called the sentence grossly unfair. “The punishment is too harsh. The law says it’s okay for a 17-year old girl to be with a 50 year old man. But if you’re 15 and with someone who is 17 it’s a tougher penalty.” The media has dubbed this case “a tragedy for everyone involved.”
Along with the label “child molester” which would require him throughout his life to be on a sexual offender registry, Genarlow received a sentence of eleven years – a mandatory 10 years in prison and one year on probation.
While there is widespread condemnation of sex between adult predators and young children, it is less clear how to deal with statutory rape involving teenagers.
Under Georgia law, the penalty is actually more severe for a person found guilty of engaging in oral sex with a minor than for having intercourse (which is classified as misdemeanor statutory rape), even if the perpetrator is just a few years older than the minor. Consequently two teens can have intercourse and it is a misdemeanor, but if they engage in oral sex, it is a felony which mandates a minimum of 10 years in prison. If two teens engaged in heavy petting, that could be a felony Child Molestation.
The intricacies of the Georgia law made national news nearly two years ago when aggravated child molestation charges almost sent 18-year-old Marcus Dixon from Rome, Georgia, to prison for a decade. Dixon, a former Pepperell High School football star, who is black, was accused of raping a white classmate who was three months away from her 16th birthday. When that case broke, even the author of the statute, state Representative Tyrone Brooks, argued that the law was intended to protect children from adult sexual predators, not to police teenage sex.
According to Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, most of the six young men charged in the Douglasville case had been in trouble with the law before, including one now facing similar charges nearly two years after this case.
ABC Chief Legal Correspondent Chris Cuomo interviewed Genarlow in prison. Genarlow’s case was featured on Good Morning America on ABC this past Thursday morning and an indepth interview of him Thursday night at 10:00pm on ABC PrimeTIme Live.
The January 2006 issue of Atlanta Magazine provides a full account of the grave injustice and problem with Georgia law.
What is Being Done to Release Genarlow Wilson?
Genarlow Wilson is appealing his case to the Georgia Court of Appeals. The case has been scheduled for oral argument before the court on March 9, 2006. Genarlow’s attorney, B.J. Bernstein, The Bernstein Firm, Atlanta, Georgia is pointing out the legal flaws with this case. On Thursday, Bernstein commented: “Today, I will be arguing his case before the Georgia Court of Appeals. The main argument is that his conviction violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution. That clause means that similarly situated people and circumstances should be treated equally. As it stands now, teens that engage in voluntarily are in sexual activity are arbitrarily treated differently. If teens engage in intercourse, it is only a misdemeanor with no more than 12 month sentence on no requirement to register as a sexual offender. If they engage in oral sex, then the law sentences a felony of Aggravated Child Molestation and requires signing for a lifetime as a registered sexual offender. That is a clear-cut example of unfair and unjust treatment without a rational basis particularly since intercourse could lead to another teenage pregnancy out of wedlock.”
What can you do?
1. Let District Attorney David McDade and other politicians of the state of Georgia know your outrage with the unjust incarceration of Genarlow Wilson. The law needs to be changed and his conviction undone.
2. The Bernstein Law firm has set up a website at http://www.wilsonappeal.com/
you can go to this site, and sign an online petition demanding his freedom, and that he not have to register as a sex offender.
3. Donate to the Wilson Defense Fund: All monies collected will go to legal expenses, and when released, an education fund for Genarlow.
“We will have to wait for the decision from the court. In the meantime, we are fighting to have the Georgia legislature enact a “Romeo and Juliet” law which will across the board make sure any teenage consensual act will be no more than a misdemeanor and not stigmatize a young life with the label and sexual offender registry.
Genarlow Wilson sits in prison as the debate rages on. No prior criminal offenses, just a young man who made a mistake a lot of young people do. Even the CDC’s (Center For Disease Control) statistics bears out the high number of teens engaging in sexual activity. Prison is not the place to correct that trend,” said Bernstein
Photos: Courtesy of Attorney B.J. Bernstein
Additional information is available from
B.J. Bernstein:
The Bernstein Firm, P.C.
621 North Avenue, NE
Building E
Atlanta, Georgia 30308
Phone: 404-522-1200
Fax 404-810-9092
Copyright 2005 by Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson
This article was composed and written by Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson, and appeared in the March 11, 2006 edition of The People’s Voice African American Weekly News (http://www.peoplesvoiceonline.com/). This article may be reprinted with permission from the author:
Charlotte A. Clark-Frieson
email: caclarkfrieson@msn.com
322 Wilkie Clark Drive
Roanoke, Alabama 36274
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