Genarlow Wilson in 2005.
Genarlow Wilson wasn't a Boy Scout, but most people seem to think he also didn't deserve a ten year prison sentence. In December 2005 he was a 17-year-old high school football star, homecoming king, and strong student with college aspirations. But he was also at a New Year's Eve party where he partook in drinking, drugs, and consentual sexual acts with at least two different partners. Wilson received oral sex from a 15-year-old girl, which at the time constituted statutory rape and carried a ten-year prison sentence, thanks largely to a loophole in a Georgia law that has since been closed. If Wilson had instead had intercourse with the girl, the sentence would have maxed out at one year. Yesterday a Georgia judge ruled Wilson's sentence cruel and unusual and ordered him freed, since he's already served two years. But before Genarlow could pack up his stuff, Georgia's Attorney General appealed, which means Wilson has to stay put—for now. It all makes for an interesting story about a young man paying a heavy price for one night in high school, and the amount of leeway judges should have when laws with good intentions go bad. Alison and Luke spoke to Jeremy Redman of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, who's been covering the story and brought us the latest.
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