Wilson v. State of Georgia

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The Wilson v. State of Georgia was an American criminal process to one on sexual abuse of a child denominated accusation against an old time of the crime 17 years Teens in State Georgia . The case was widely discussed in the USA and led to the introduction of a so-called "Romeo and Juliet clause" in the state of Georgia.

facts

For the New Year's Eve celebration in 2003/2004, some students from a high school graduation in Atlanta rented two hotel rooms. In these hotel rooms there was a celebration with plenty of alcohol and marijuana consumption on New Year's Eve . Among others, the African American Genarlow Wilson, five male classmates and two high school students (15 and 17 years old) were present. At the celebration there was between the present male participants and the 17-year-old for sex , the 15-year-old had with Wilson and five other classmates oral sex . The events of the party were recorded with a video camera .

Procedure up to the conviction

The next day, the seventeen-year-old filed a criminal complaint of alleged rape . The hotel rooms were searched and condoms and the video camera were found. The rape trial was dropped because the video showed that the sexual contact was consensual. However, since sexual contact with under 16-year-olds has been a criminal offense since 1995 , regardless of the consent of the person concerned and the age of the perpetrator, the proceedings were opened against the six students who had had oral sex with the 15-year-old. Five pleaded guilty to minor penalties in a plea bargaining . Only Genarlow Wilson, the best of the year in high school, pleaded “not guilty” because he did not see himself as a pedophile . Because of the footage, Wilson was sentenced to ten years in prison .

Debate and implications of the judgment

There was considerable debate in the United States as a result of the conviction. Representatives of civil rights movements , particularly the NAACP, criticized that covert racism played a role in the case . In similar cases, a white offender received a significantly lower sentence (measured in days). In some cases, parallels were drawn with the milder condemnation of the hotel heiress Paris Hilton . It was countered that the victim was also an African American, the jury consisted partly of blacks and the responsible Minister of Justice, Georgias Thurbert Baker , who stood behind the verdict, was also black. In addition, the law was attacked, which also makes minors into criminals who have sexual contacts with minors. Well-known politicians, such as the former US President Jimmy Carter , campaigned for Wilson in the debate . In addition to representatives of civil rights organizations, conservative circles also spoke out against the judgment and the underlying law.

In 2006, the state of Georgia has the law to one by the equally minor main characters in the drama Romeo and Juliet added named "Romeo and Juliet" rule, according to which there is only a misdemeanor IN QUESTION, if a minor with an under 16- partner who is over 14 years of age has sexual contact. However, the Georgia State Constitution does not have retroactive laws; H. it has no retroactive effect in favor of the citizen.

Further course of proceedings

Because of the lack of retroactive effect of the law, Wilson could not be released immediately. The justice minister of Georgia refused to pardon Wilson because he had violated the then applicable laws. In 2007, a County Monroe district judge ordered her release. The district court had ruled that the act should be assessed as an administrative offense, Wilson should not be included in the file of sex offenders and the sentence should be reduced to twelve months. The sentence had been served for setting Wilson free. The public prosecutor's office appealed against this, as a court could not simply overturn a decision made by a jury. In response to this appeal, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled on October 26, 2007 that Wilson's 10-year prison term violated the federal constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. In view of the insignificance of the offense, the sentence is also "grossly disproportionate". The Justice Minister of Georgia announced that he would not lodge any further appeals against the judgment (for example in federal courts). After more than two years in prison, Wilson was released from prison the same day.

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