A True Travesty

I know enough about today’s world to realize that there may be people reading this who do not agree with my position. From my perspective, however, I don’t understand why situations like this don’t make people rise up and demand change.

I will preface my comments with a disclaimer that I have not studied this case in depth, but if what is being reported is even close to the truth we are dealing with a true travesty of justice. In Georgia, a 17 year old high school senior – a star athlete with a grade point average of 3.2 – engaged in consensual sex with his girlfriend, a 15 year old classmate. What they didn’t know was that they were, actually he was, breaking the laws of the State of Georgia. As a result, Genarlow Wilson is currently serving a 10 year prison sentence and has to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.

Look, sexual predators have no greater enemy than me, but to label a young man in these circumstances as a sex offender subverts the entire concept of what a sex offender is. To ruin his life with a 10 year prison sentence and a life long label is an outcome that should not be permitted anywhere, let alone in the United States of America. Regardless of your personal feelings regarding teen sexuality, a 17 year old being sexually active with a consensual 15 year old partner is not an offender or a predator. Genarlow Wilson sits in jail today for an act that millions of adult Americans were guilty of themselves when they were teenagers.

If there is no more to this case than has been described in the press, Genarlow Wilson should be released today and his record should be expunged. And we as a society need to get a realistic grip on what a sexual offender really is.

In response to this case a website was created to help teens understand laws such as the one that nailed Genarlow Wilson. Called My5th.org, a link is available in the Web Resources section of the InterNetwork for Youth under Recommended Resources for Young People.