Sharpton to Join Protest of Genarlow Wilson Case

Douglas County, Georgia officials had better prepare for the Genarlow Wilson Case to go national with the heat brought by The Rev. Al Sharpton and his nationally-syndicated radio show. It's too bad Genarlow is not a friend of President Bush; perhaps he would have commuted his sentence or maybe even pardoned him. We know what the President did for friend, Scooter.

Georgia Judge Declares Genarlow Wilson Ineligible for Bond; Georgia, Stop the Madness!

After businessmen raise $1 million for a bond, a Douglas County (Ga.) judge cancels a bond appeal hearing. It is obvious that the State of Georgia is hell bent on keeping one young man locked up for receiving oral sex from a 15 year-old when he was 17. For the life of me I don’t want to shout racism but what is the damn problem here? Listen folks, you can be in denial if you want, but teenagers are engaging in oral sex and all sorts of behavior not condoned by parents or the law. That's what they hear in their music and see on televsion or at the movies. Guess what? The incarceration of Genarlow Wilson will not stop teenagers from having sex; they’ll just conceal it from the authorities for fear of being jailed.

Oh yeah, those same teenagers that will keep their sexual behavior a secret for fear of being jailed will likely spread and contract sexually-transmitted diseases because they haven’t gotten proper medical attention, because why? They don’t want to be jailed. Georgia, please turn on a light and come out of the dark ages. Genarlow Wilson has served 28 months of a 10 year sentence that he does not deserve. He should not be required to register as a sex offender. The fact that his friends accepted a plea deal should not prevent Georgia law from doing the right thing for Genarlow. I don’t blame Genarlow or his attorney for declining those so-called plea deals offered by Douglas County DA David McDade. They are insulting to say the least. Besides, the longer Genarlow is in jail, the more Georgia’s reputation is damaged. Just a few days away from a July 5 bond appeal hearing, Douglas County Judge David Emerson declared that Genarlow is ineligible for a bond. Give me a break; this situation is just inhumane. It’s time for some folk to put a spotlight on his situation and turn up the heat even more than before. With serious issues that Georgia has to deal with, it’s incomprehensible that oral sex between two teenagers would result in such a waste of taxpayer resources. This case not only makes Georgia look like a racist, backwater State, it makes the USA look like backwater, knuckle-dragging hypocrites. If Georgia AG Thurbert Baker, DA David McDade, Judge David Emerson and Gov. Sonny Perdue really want to apply the law equitably, Georgia should just lock up all of its teenagers guilty of engaging in oral sex under the age of consent. If honesty prevailed, there’d be few teenagers in school and most of them behind bars. When all is said and done, I pray that Genarlow continues to stand on principle and doesn’t allow these men to break his spirit.

FREE GENARLOW WILSON: $ 1 Million Can't Buy Freedom

Businessman, Whitney Tilson, founder and Managing Partner of T2 Partners LLC and the Tilson Mutual Funds, convinced 9 of his friends to join him in a contribution towards a $1,000,000 bond for the release of Genarlow Wilson. He was successful in his fundraising endeavor but Genarlow Wilson still remains behind bars.

Make no mistake that some Georgians applaud AG Thurbert Baker's handling of this situation while others criticize his staunch effort to keep Genarlow Wilson incarcerated. Baker has been accused of not exercising the same zeal in other situations. Whether that is true or not is beyond me as I did not know of Baker until the Genarlow Wilson case.

With that in mind, the focus on the bond issue should rest squarely with Douglas County DA David McDade, not AG Thurbert Baker. McDade can easily put this situation to rest but he chooses to offer B.J. Bernstein, Wilson's attorney, little consolation to compromise. It is in the State of Georgia's best interest to keep AG Baker in the spotlight to diffuse charges of racism. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see what's going on and it won't diminish the cries of racism either.

It's also important to note that Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue supports Baker's position. Perdue may prefer to watch from the sidelines but the media and Georgia voters should make sure that he does not avoid public scrutiny and/or outrage either.

Maybe it's just me but I still think that this entire situation could have been avoided early on in the case. In spite of the antiquated Georgia law under which Genarlow was convicted, judicial and law enforcement officials could have tried to salvage this young man's collegiate academic and athletic career potential. The mother of the victim has already proclaimed the sentence too harsh --- talk about overkill. Baker, McDade and Perdue also could have avoided another black eye against the State of Georgia; you'd think Georgia law enforcement would have learned after the Marcus Dixon case but I guess old habits die hard.

Who is Genarlow Wilson and why should we care about him?

By now, you may have heard the story of Genarlow Wilson, a young man incarcerated in a Georgia prison for receiving oral sex from a 15 year-old girl. Genarlow was 17 when the incident occured. There was a video of the sordid shenanigans that took place in a motel room between Genarlow, his friends and several girls.

Although the female victim in this case was not forced to commit the act, she was under Georgia's age of consent which is 16. Genarlow refused the plea bargain that his friends accepted and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. He would also be labeled a child molestor. The antiquated Georgia law has been changed but Genarlow and the seven other prisoners convicted as teenagers were not grandfathered in. Genarlow has been incarcerated almost 29 months.

Recently, A Georgia judge voided Genarlow's conviction thus freeing Genarlow from prison. The Georgia Attorney General appealed the judge's decision and Genarlow remains in prision.

The Genarlow Wilson case has received major media coverage recently. Many have expressed outrage at his sentence and the Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue is beginning to feel the heat.

The mother of the victim feels that Generlow's sentence was too severe. She also spoke of Gestapo-like tactics used by Georgia's State Attorney's Office. As this continues to unfold, hopefully the Georgia legislature, ACLU, NAACP and other organizations will make sure that the Douglas County DA and Georgia Sate Attorney's Office are investigated.

Genarlow Wilson and his friends were irresponsible for engaging in sexual activity the way that they did. Filming the acts was reprehensible. The young girl willingly performing a sexual act in the presence of others and allowing it to be filmed was nauseating.

This case is bigger than Genarlow Wilson, it exemplifies the moral decline of American society and our utterly ridiculous show of surprise that such an incident occured in the first place.