Genarlow Wilson6/19/07
Justice for Genarlow Wilson
From time to time, a case surfaces that perfectly illustrates the arbitrary and insane nature of “cookie-cutter” mandatory sentencing laws that give judges absolutely no discretion to consider the individual, his or her role, or the facts of the case. As FAMM has long argued, no matter how well intentioned a mandatory sentencing law may be, even in cases involving controversial charges, there are always going to be examples where the application of the law is unjust.
One such case involves promising football player Genarlow Wilson, now 20, who is serving a 10-year mandatory sentence without possibility of parole for aggravated child molestation in Georgia.
At a party when he was a senior in high school, Wilson engaged in a consensual sexual act with a girlfriend. He was 17. She was 15. The local prosecutor called the act “aggravated child molestation,” and prosecuted Genarlow following the letter and not the spirit of the law, which was designed to prosecute pedophiles.
The prosecutor offered a plea bargain to limit Genarlow’s sentence to between five and seven years with the possibility of parole if he registered as a sex offender. Genarlow refused and took his case to trial. In an article in Atlanta magazine, he explained, “Even after serving time in prison, I would have to register as a sex offender wherever I lived and if I applied for a job for the rest of my life, all for participating in a consensual sex act with a girl just two years younger than me. I would not even be able to move back in with my mother because I have an eight-year-old sister. I am not a child molester.”
Compelled by the severity of Genarlow’s sentence, the Georgia Legislature changed the law in March 2005 to ensure that most sex between teenagers is treated as a misdemeanor. But they forgot one important provision: retroactivity. Later, the Georgia Supreme Court said legislators had chosen not to make the law retroactive, so the change did not apply to Genarlow.
On June 12, 2007, two years after Genarlow was sentenced, Georgia Superior Court Judge Thomas Wilson reduced his charge and 10-year sentence to a misdemeanor conviction that carries a 12-month sentence. In his decision, Judge Wilson wrote that it would be a "grave miscarriage of justice" for Genarlow to be kept in prison for the remaining eight years of his sentence.
However, before Genarlow could be released from prison for time served, Georgia Attorney General Thurbert Baker filed an appeal arguing that the judge did not have the authority to reduce or modify the sentence given by the trial court. The case is now on appeal to the Georgia State Supreme Court, while Genarlow sits in prison. A bond hearing is set for July 5th.
Although Baker's actions seem unjustifiable, the root of this injustice is the mandatory minimum sentence. Like all mandatory sentencing laws it probably seemed like a great idea at one time, especially with its focus on child sex offenders. But like all mandatory minimums sentences, the facts of the case and the defendant’s role were not allowed to be considered when determining the sentence. As a result, Genarlow Wilson is serving the same sentence as a child pedophile.
In his statement overturning Wilson's sentence, Judge Thomas Wilson wrote, "If any case fits into the definitive limits of a miscarriage of justice, surely this case does. 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."
Thankfully, the Georgia state legislature learned this lesson and changed the law for future defendants. And, hopefully, Georgia legislators will apply this lesson to other mandatory minimums on their books and begin to amend them. Life is not black and white and sentences shouldn’t be either.