Say your cellblock farewells, Genarlow
July 19, 2007 at 8:22 am by Scott Henry in NewsGeorgia’s infamous inmate of the moment, teen sex offender Genarlow Wilson, could soon be heading home to Douglas County, say some local legal eagles.
That prediction is based on the fact that the Georgia Supreme Court recently took the unusual move of reversing its own June decision not to hear an appeal of Wilson’s denial of bond. As originally scheduled, the high court wouldn’t have heard Wilson’s case until October, meaning he would likely have spent the rest of the year in prison. Instead, the justices will hear oral arguments this Friday at 10 a.m.
To some court watchers, that can likely mean one thing: Wilson should pack his bags.
“My guess is, the justices would not have granted the expedited appeal unless they were interested in finding the legal means to correct an injustice,” says J. Tom Morgan, former district attorney for DeKalb County.
That injustice, of course, is that Wilson remains in prison months after the law that put him there was repealed. In June, a Monroe County judge tossed out Wilson’s 10-year sentence for having oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17. But a Douglas judge ordered that Wilson should stay behind bars while state Attorney General Thurbert Baker appealed the first judge’s ruling.
Initially, the Georgia Supremes saw no reason to fast-track a hearing for Wilson’s bond appeal. Then they changed their minds. Could it have been the fact that the Peach State has become, once again, the laughingstock of the nation?
“The justices are as cognizant as the rest of us that this case is an embarrassment to the state,” Morgan says.
Morgan also suggests that Douglas District Attorney David McDade should have known better than to hand out videotapes showing Wilson taking part in the sex acts that landed him in prison. Although McDade claims he was only following the state’s open-records laws, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias says the prosecutor may have violated federal child-pornography laws.
Notes Morgan: “The law makes clear the exemptions (to kiddie-porn statutes), and giving tapes to legislators so they won’t change a law isn’t one of them.”
July 22nd, 2007 at 6:41 pm
The outcome of this case will surely be decided within a week or two at the latest. But, beyond the minimum sentence issue, at hand, a larger question exists: what will Genarlow Wilson do to benefit others from his experience? Certainly, his sentence and incarceration has caused a law to be changed. One could say that is good. But beyond that, Genarlow is an example of a simple, yet profound, principle: Every choice has a consequence.
As former inmate from Federal prison, today I share with business executives and young people that simple message: Every choice has a consequence. http://www.chuckgallagher.com And, while I am extraordinarily sympathetic to Mr. Wilson’s plight, his example has helped other young people evaluate the power of their seemingly simple choices. As the founder of the Choices Foundation, perhaps Genarlow would consider stepping up and helping others understand the power of choice.