Finally, JUSTICE:

[Danzig]

isn't it a general rule that girls mature faster than boys? so she's fifteen, but possibly on par with a 17 year old boy....

also, she's immature--yet most states would allow her to make the oh so adult decision to have an abortion--if she killed someone, you can bet your sweet patootie they'd fight tooth and nail to have her charged as an adult. how convenient that the law can decide adulthood when they wish!


the fact is tho, regardless of what awful things occurred in that room, that he was sentenced to ten years due to having oral sex. not sex--the others who had intercourse with her were not charged. i think it's a travesty, and i hope he is released asap.

btw, i didn't do that crap at that age either.

[somerfrost]

Originally Posted by Danzig

isn't it a general rule that girls mature faster than boys? so she's fifteen, but possibly on par with a 17 year old boy....

also, she's immature--yet most states would allow her to make the oh so adult decision to have an abortion--if she killed someone, you can bet your sweet patootie they'd fight tooth and nail to have her charged as an adult. how convenient that the law can decide adulthood when they wish!


the fact is tho, regardless of what awful things occurred in that room, that he was sentenced to ten years due to having oral sex. not sex--the others who had intercourse with her were not charged. i think it's a travesty, and i hope he is released asap.

btw, i didn't do that crap at that age either.

Yep, honestly though there is no way of knowing which was more mature but the issue is that they were both kids...even the state congressman who drafted the law said he never intended it to be used against kids...and, largely due to this case, the law was changed! This is a case where a law designed to protect kids from sexual predators was used to ensnare a poor kid who is guilty of poor judgement...god, if that was a crime we'd all be doing life!

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Danzig

also, she's immature--yet most states would allow her to make the oh so adult decision to have an abortion--

Actually, 31 states have parental notification laws- 16 of those states require parental consent, and 15 require notification. On top of that, 10 states enacted laws that are currently blocked by the courts from taking effect, so that's 41 states with some sort of parental involvement law in the books. Only 2 states and the District of Columbia have laws affirming a minor's right to make the decision to abort a pregnancy on her own.

Just wanted to clear that up.

[GenuineRisk]

This case is, I think, an excellent example of why legislators need to look at the laws on the books every few years and update them. The judge didn't want to sentence the kid to ten years; he was pretty clear about that, but the law left him no choice- it was very clear about penalties for oral sex. The jury who found the kid guilty were horrified when they found out what their decision meant. I think the law, due in part to this case, was changed, but it was after the verdict and the kid could not be grandfathered in (again, due to the laws on the books). Whether or not the girl consented doesn't matter in the eyes of the law.

It's a horrific outcome, no question, and I can't believe the state is continuing to pursue this when it could let it go, but the kids happened to break an archaic law that happened to have very stiff penalties. Hey, in Georgia up until 1998, oral sex even between a husband and a wife was punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Can you imagine THAT pillow talk, "Sorry honey; I don't want to go to jail."

Here's the Wikipedia entry on the Wilson case- it gives a good summary of how it came to pass:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genarlow_Wilson