Genarlow Wilson

Well, isn’t that something?

According the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the Georgia State Supreme Court has ordered Genarlow Wilson be released from prison. According to the AJC:

The court’s 4-3 decision upholds a Monroe County judge’s ruling that the sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment under both the Georgia and U.S. constitutions.

The majority opinion said the sentence appeared to be “grossly disproportionate” to the teenager’s crime and noted that it was out of step with current law.

And according to an AP report, via the NYT, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears wrote in the majority opinion on the 4-3 opinion that:

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In front of tomorrow’s trial on Genarlow Wilson’s appeal, The Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC), has a story on his lawyer, BJ Bernstein. At the center of the story is a question about the many ways she has kept Wilson’s story in the media.

And it’s interesting, no? On the one hand we imagine that too much media attention perverts justice, insofar as it gives us a sense that a case is more about public opinion than it is about “the law.” But that might be more an argument regarding the Paris Hiltons, and less one for the Genarlow Wilsons.

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Democracy Now just posted this interview with Genarlow Wilson’s mother, Juanessa Wilson:

“10 Years in Prison For Consensual Sex: Genarlow Wilson’s Mother Speaks Out on Why Her Son Remains Locked Up“ (click to listen).

And here is the link to my Genarlow Wilson background post, which will be updated frequently up until his new hearing later this week.

Huh, Andrew Sullivan at The Daily Dish, one of the Atlantic Monthly’s blogs, has posted this video of Barack Obama first hearing the Libby news, while giving a speech in New Hampshire. (The video is after the jump).

On hearing the news (did he really hear it right that moment? I’m unclear), Obama immediately makes the connection between the Genarlow Wilson sentence and the Libby commutation.

This is the same connection Obama would go on to use in a speech he has given in a variety of venues, which I mentioned in an earlier post.

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Following up on my previous Obama post, and also on the Genarlow Wilson updates, The Atlanta Journal Constitution has this story on the charges being sought against the prosecutor in the Genarlow Wilson case, for showing further signs of “overzealous” prosecution in distributing the sex tape that helped convict him. The connection?

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According to this story by Christi Parsons in the Chicago Tribune, Barack Obama came with it during a Democratic candidate’s forum yesterday to the NAACP (story below). The article compares his statements to the NAACP with a speech he gave at Howard University, where he spoke in “mostly lofty terms.” At the NAACP event in Detroit, however, Parsons’ describes Obama’s statements as combining “his intellectual assessment of social problems with a stronger does of personal feeling.”

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7.26.07

Click here for the latest Genarlow Wilson updates at $3.60.

20 July, 2007 @ 11a

• Wilson’s appeal trial is being held right now. It was being simulcast, but the feed from the courthouse has gone out. You can check here for updates.
• The Daily Report (a paper out of Georgia) has one of the best information pages I’ve seen on the case. You can check it out here.
• Radley Balko has a particularly useful survey of some of the more recent issues with the Wilson case, particularly viz. McDade’s release of the party tape. I’m not a fan of the title (I’m just not in a glib mood lately), but it’s definitely worth checking out: “Genarlow Wilson and the N Word.” And here’s the link to my long comment thereon. (Reason.com)
• Democracy Now just posted this interview with Genarlow Wilson’s mother, Juanessa Wilson: “10 Years in Prison For Consensual Sex: Genarlow Wilson’s Mother Speaks Out on Why Her Son Remains Locked Up“ (click to listen).
• CNN transcript in which the actual Genarlow Wilson tape is discussed.

Have you seen this, about the tape being leaked/released to members of the public?

Release of Ga. Teen Sex Tape Draws Fire (NYT)

How could they have not protected the girls involved in this incident? What is going on in Georgia?:

Senator: Release of Wilson sex video should be investigated (AJC)

Following is some important background:

You can read the full story here at CNN, or here at the New York Times. And here is a CBS news story from last year, which more detail, if you are unfamiliar with the case.

After the jump, a timeline of stories on the Genarlow Wilson case.

You might also find this article, “The Harsh Wages of Sin: Why Genarlow Wilson is Languishing in Prison.” It’s written by Sherry F. Colb, a professor of law at Rutgers.

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