Why is Genarlow Wilson in prison?

The good news is that this spreads the word that if you are a teenager in Georgia and a 15 year old girl offers you a BJ behind the bike sheds you better say no....

And then you can proceed to get her drunk and incapable and then gangbang her with your mates infront of a video camera for the lesser penalty.

Nice.

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The good news is that this spreads the word that if you are a teenager in Georgia and a 15 year old girl offers you a BJ behind the bike sheds you better say no....

And then you can proceed to get her drunk and incapable and then gangbang her with your mates infront of a video camera for the lesser penalty.

Nice.

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They didnt get her drunk - she got herself drunk hell she had been drinking before she even arrived at the party

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Originally Posted by Sir Moody

They didnt get her drunk - she got herself drunk hell she had been drinking before she even arrived at the party

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That has no bearing on the law. She was under the age of consent - whatever her actions were - it had no bearing on the innocence or guilt of the accused. It can only be used in mitigation of the sentence.

If your under 16 you can not give consent under the law.

If your over 16 and engage in sex with someone under the consent stated age - you run the risk of exactly what happened in this case.

i know that redleg i was replying to slypsy who was implying they INTENTIONALLY got her drunk to gang bang her - they did no such thing

One is predatory and is far worse than the other

they still broke the law and we all agree there

Meanwhile, in neighboring Florida, a 21-year old woman is raped, reports it, and is then jailed on a 4-year old juvenile warrant, and denied standard rape medical treatment.
Link.

More lousy prioritizing by police, IMO.

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Originally Posted by Sir Moody

i know that redleg i was replying to slypsy who was implying they INTENTIONALLY got her drunk to gang bang her - they did no such thing

One is predatory and is far worse than the other

they still broke the law and we all agree there

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Maybe you missed the sarcastic nature of the post?

The fact is that those who had non-consensual (either in law or in fact) presumably penetrative group sex with a drunk girl for the camera got off lighter than the guy who got a consensual (in fact if not in law) knee-trembler from a sober girl who knew full well what she was doing. I understand that that in the eyes of the law of Georgia that sex with a minor is never consensual and so a penalty must be given, and I understand why. I do, however, have trouble with the sentencing in these particular cases.

The priorities in this case are rather dubious; still, I guess (hope) those involved did learn from all this, and that this case is a lesson to others.

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Originally Posted by Tom_Hagen

But I happen to think the judge was wrong to level this direction. There is a difference between being an active participant and a passive participant, no? If I punch you in the nose , we were both involved in a fight but only one of us actually did something, correct? Now granted, you didn't consent to being punched in the nose. But in this case, the passive participant cannot give cosnent, as their judgement is impaired. It's not a question of drunk girl. It's a question of drunk person who initiates versus drunk person who has it happen to them.

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Ah, no if you punch me in the nose without me doing anything then you are guilty of Assault and Battery. If I take a swing it you and miss I get Assault and you probably get nothing. If I go "Come on then! Hit me you [censored]" then we might be described as having a fight.

If I get drunk, meet a drunk woman and end up having sex with her that's rape in your book?

What about me? My judgement is also impaired. If I was sober I wouldn't come on to a drunk girl.

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If I get drunk, meet a drunk woman and end up having sex with her that's rape in your book?

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If, at any stage in the "transaction" she said "no", or "stop", then yes. If not, then not.

Since the woman bears the brunt of the possible consequences of the liaison, she gets the right of refusal at any point, and the man must comply.

I know you asked Don, not me. Sorry. :bow:

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Originally Posted by KukriKhan

If, at any stage in the "transaction" she said "no", or "stop", then yes. If not, then not.

Since the woman bears the brunt of the possible consequences of the liaison, she gets the right of refusal at any point, and the man must comply.

I know you asked Don, not me. Sorry. :bow:

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As a side note: Apparently, in Belgium once she says yes it isn't rape anymore, no matter how many tiimes she says no after or before having said yes.

Personally I'd say the guy was at least a **** if he continued after hearing her protest, see another difference between what's legal and what's moral.

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Originally Posted by KukriKhan

If, at any stage in the "transaction" she said "no", or "stop", then yes. If not, then not.

Since the woman bears the brunt of the possible consequences of the liaison, she gets the right of refusal at any point, and the man must comply.

I know you asked Don, not me. Sorry. :bow:

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Well I'm assuming that at no point did she say "no" I agree with you in any case.

Why was the girl not charged with possession and consumption? If she were drinking before she came to the party then she obtained and consumed alcohol on her on initiative. At least in Illinois you get your day ruined for doing that underaged.


Anyway, I'd like to thank the fine law makers in Illinois for the Romeo Clause, which allows for two years in age difference if both are under the age of consent or six months of dating if one is above the age of consent.

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Originally Posted by JimBob

Why was the girl not charged with possession and consumption? If she were drinking before she came to the party then she obtained and consumed alcohol on her on initiative. At least in Illinois you get your day ruined for doing that underaged.


Anyway, I'd like to thank the fine law makers in Illinois for the Romeo Clause, which allows for two years in age difference if both are under the age of consent or six months of dating if one is above the age of consent.

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Girl wakes up, with her clothes in a pile on the floor, a video camera pointed at her, and two naked guys laying next to her. She has no recollection how she came to be there, and your answer is "charge her with possession?".

Damn, I'm glad I don't play poker with you chief.

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Girl wakes up, with her clothes in a pile on the floor, a video camera pointed at her, and two naked guys laying next to her. She has no recollection how she came to be there, and your answer is "charge her with possession?".

Damn, I'm glad I don't play poker with you chief.

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Based on the article, yes.

She had come to the party drunk:

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Michelle had arrived at the party tipsy; she’d been drinking Hennessy cognac that afternoon even before the party began.

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And Michelle was 17-years old, the same age as Genarlow, she was above the age of consent. What he did was sleazy, but maybe its because I'm a teen and I know people who go to parties, get drunk and have sex that I am not as fazed by it.
But let me ask you something, if she had not blacked out and forgotten the night and called home saying she thought she had been raped. If she had just left the party and been caught with alcohol in her system should she not be charged with possession? She broke the law and drank when she was underage. Charge her for her crime.

But that is the charge he was acquitted of.

The one he was found guilty for is now legal in Georgia, thanks to this case.

JimBob. I think the age of consent in Georgia is still 18.:thumbsdown:

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Originally Posted by Wigferth Ironwall

JimBob. I think the age of consent in Georgia is still 18.:thumbsdown:

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Then why isn't Michelle charged with raping those poor underage boys ?

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Why was the girl not charged with possession and consumption? If she were drinking before she came to the party then she obtained and consumed alcohol on her on initiative. At least in Illinois you get your day ruined for doing that underaged.

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People actually get charged for underage drinking in the US? Over here if the police caught you on the street with alcohol underage they'd just confiscate it, maybe give you a caution if you were unlucky.

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Originally Posted by doc_bean

Then why isn't Michelle charged with raping those poor underage boys ?

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Well I think the answer to that in this case is fairly obvious. However, in Britain it's very diificult, if not impossible, to convict a woman of Rape because Rape = penetration. With little bows you can just get them on child molestation.

As to being charged with underage drinking, well, why? I mean really, why bother?

Such a pleasure to see the fine tradition of blaming rape victims is still alive and well.

The lions were getting hungry, after all. :rtwno:

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JimBob. I think the age of consent in Georgia is still 18.

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It's sixteen, Map

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People actually get charged for underage drinking in the US? Over here if the police caught you on the street with alcohol underage they'd just confiscate it, maybe give you a caution if you were unlucky.

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Here they kick you out of school, fail you in all your classes, banish you from society, and fine you like its going out of style.

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Such a pleasure to see the fine tradition of blaming rape victims is still alive and well.

The lions were getting hungry, after all.

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What do you mean? I'm not blaming her for getting raped, I'm saying that she broke the law. She broke the law before she got raped. Its no excuse.
Did Genarlow Wilson break the law? Yes. The charge that was a legitimate charge, rape, was dropped by a jury. The charge that was illogical and generally ridiculous, aggravated child molestation, is the one he is serving ten years in prison for.
Is Michelle X a victim? Yes. She was taken advantage of, she wasn't the wisest or most careful person, but that doesn't excuse what happened to her. But did Michelle X break the law? Yes. She drank as a minor. And no crime committed against her should be able to shield her from that fact.

The general relevance of that, however, is more than slightly questionable.

'Sides, I wasn't referring to you specifically.

We're not blaming her, we're disputing whether she was raped. At the end of the day rape is basically one person's word against another's. In this case without seeing the tape we can't know for sure, however given the fact that the book wasn't thrown at the other guys I somehoe doubt she was actually passed out.

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Originally Posted by Watchman

Such a pleasure to see the fine tradition of blaming rape victims is still alive and well.

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Hey, I pretty cleary said before what I'd consider rape, this could have very well been rape, but without the video (or a more clear explanation) I can't judge. The jury didn't consider it rape in any case, I assume there was a reason for that.

Update: Superior Court Judge threw out the sentence, but the state AG is still being a :daisy: about it.
http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/06/11/tee...ase/index.html

Spoiler Alert, click show to read: 

Appeal blocks release in teen sex case

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A judge on Monday threw out the 10-year sentence against a 21-year-old for a consensual sex encounter he had as a teenager. But the state attorney general quickly filed a notice of appeal, keeping Genarlow Wilson in prison for the time being.

The prosecutor's move brought an abrupt halt to the jubilation Wilson's mother, Juannessa Bennett, and his attorney, B.J. Bernstein, were feeling, and the plans they were making for Bennett to be reunited with her son.

"It is extremely, extremely disturbing that the attorney general would take this action now," Bernstein said, adding that she did not know what message "he's trying to send" or "who he's representing."

Wilson has drawn support from throughout the country, including the editorial board of the New York Times and former President Jimmy Carter.

When he was 17 years old, he had a consensual sexual encounter with a 15-year-old girl, which was consensually videotaped.

Georgia law at the time made such an action a felony punishable by 10 years in prison and listing on the sex offender registry.

The state legislature later changed the law, partly in response to Wilson's case. But the change was not made retroactive, leaving Wilson in jail. He has already served more than two years.

Superior Court Judge Thomas H. Wilson of Monroe County, Georgia, voided the sentence Monday, agreeing with Bernstein that the punishment was cruel and unusual, and therefore unconstitutional, Bernstein said.