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This story is unreal and I cannot tell you how pissed off I am. This is totally ridiculous. Below is the link.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/etick...ry?page=wilson

How far do I have to go for the racing hook?

:D That is what I was trying to figure out...

Sounds like an interesting and sad story...and we can continue discussing it when the thread is moved.

hmm

I saw that this morning. Absolutely ridiculous. There are some crazy archaic laws out there still. They really need to be wiped out if they are going to be selectively enforced like this one. Can you imagine the Senator's 17 year old son getting ten years for getting oral sex from a 15 year old? No freakin way it would happen.

i saw the story this morning also. truly outrageous. especially considering this is supposed to be 'the land of the free'. no way this makes any sense!

just think, had the girl killed someone she would be tried as an adult, had she wanted an abortion her parents would have no rights. but go south on a boy, look out world!

I bet the girl is white. These cases always come down to racism.

Pillow I think you probably nailed the crux of the matter.
That would make a lot more sense explaining this injustice.

theres another story similar to this about a far better kid, who had sex with a white girl in a portable at the high school, it was on HBO's Gumbel to Gumbel show

but with this kid, I feel less sorry. He probably had an inflated GPA, and like what was said in the article he was already a far from perfect kid.

It's amazing and very scary. If this law was throughout the land probably about 75% of all high school boys would be in jail.

oh yeah, jerry, he definitely should do ten years because he was 'far from perfect'. gimme a break.

There are some additional links on this story (posted by yours truly) on an older thread- I don't remember the thread title but it had something to do with judges and light sentences and child molestation and all sorts of lovely happy things like that. The best article on it was in the Atlantic Monthly, I think. Probably googleable.

yeah I know that, but dont make this out to be some kind of super kid

Some of these laws are ridiculous.

Jerry...

You're the pot calling the kettle black.

meaning what?

i didn't see where anyone was making him out to be teen of the year--but by the same token, this is 'justice' run amok.

he didnt do anything wrong, but I dont like the way article tries to paint hiim to be this honor student, super athlete, super teen

total injustice IMO...but when are people going to learn that they should not videotape themselves when drinking/doing drugs/having sex/commiting crimes etc etc because it may come back to bite you in the ass...

I thank god every day that there is no video evidence of my very misspent youth:o

I'm not going to pretend to be an expert on this, and the bottom line is this stinks from head to toe, but there's something called jury nullification, that every prospective juror should know about before hand. It basically means a juror is within his or her right to judge both the facts of the case and the law itself. If they believe the law is unjust, they can aquit despite the "facts". No judge will ever mention this, as they pretty much control the outcome of the case based on their "juror instructions".
In fact, mentioning jury nullification might be a great way to get out of jury duty.

That is a life lesson taught to America by Paris Hilton. That being said, this case is the saddest commentary on the american justice system. Prosecutorial misconduct is rampant in courtrooms across the country, DA's are only concerned about their conviction statistics, right or wrong is simply a non factor to them. Witness the Duke lacrosse players case, fortunately the DA in that case is going to get his just punishment by being disbarred, then hopefully jailed. The prosecutor in this case should be next, and the legislators in Georgia should be embarassed by this disgraceful situation.

That is disgusting. 100% wrong.

When I was in college I wrote an entire thesis about this issue and about statutory rape laws across the country. Some states have the idea right with the year-differential clauses, but some are still archaically wrong like this one. It was fascinating to look at it nationwide, but it was also saddening because I read lots of accounts that are eerily similar to this one. The laws are well-meaning but they are not written correctly and the punishments do not fit the crime in many cases. It was the most depressing paper I ever had to research, because I found that these cases revolve around race more often than around the laws themselves. Put a white kid in his shoes and the prosecutor would have been singing a totally different tune.

I totally disagree with this ten year sentence, but where do we draw the line? Would a consenting 14 year old be ok? What about a 13 year old who has been bumped up a grade? You have to admit at some point it does matter.

I'll play the devil's advocate a bit. Perhaps seeing the maturity level of the girl persuaded the jury to say guilty. Maybe it was the fact they were given drugs and alcohol. This article is written to favor this young man and he still doesn't come off all that well. Could be a little more to the story.

And lastly ... what are the odds of his new attorney going by the name BJ and working pro bono?

My oh my If I had video tapped everything I done a teenager I'd still be in the pokie today some 18 years later today. Just to name a few things I done, broke into the Army Cor. of Engineers Dam and had A look around one night. T.P'ed the governor Clinton's Lake House, stole a city bus in Little Rock for a drive around the block for an hour or so, broke into Magic Springs and went on the Log Ride after hours. The list is a mile long. The thing thta gets me was I was never caught. I see where some kids get caught the 1st time they do something wrong and I'm like they could've been me so many times. I guess we were either very lucky or smart. I think it was a little of both. If getting oral sex is the worst this kid did then I feel sorry for him. I mean 3 years difference is really no that long on the years above the age of 15 come on. Who hasn't dated a person 3 years their younger? I know I have many times even growing up.

my whole problem is the law. Its not a felony if their is penetration but, it is a felony if its oral. Sucks to be kid, but you just don'y put yourself in that situation with it on tape. But wow how backward is that law.....