mandatory sentencing

I would have sworn I blogged this when it first became news, but I can't find it now. Regardless, today I'm posting about it because it has a happy ending. Back in 2005 a young man was put in jail for having sex with a young woman. Oral sex (this is, bizarrely, an important detail). He was 17, she was 15. The law carried with it a minimum penalty of ten years (it would have been a significantly lesser crime if there had been intercourse involved). Today the BBC is reporting that the Georgia Supreme Court has overturned this sentence, stating the sentence made "no measurable contribution to acceptable goals of punishment".

Bizarre doesn't begin to describe Georgia's sex crime laws... hell, it was 1996 before they repealed their sodomy law (but not before it was victoriously upheld just 10 years prior).

Robin Williams: "Georgia: A state in which they'll put you in jail for sodomy with a guy who's gonna sodomize you!"

Just to comment on this, as a resident of GA and also a colleague of someone who sat on the grand jury that indicted this kid....one of the other counts against him, and his friends was also rape. There was another girl in that room, who was drunk, and it clear on the video that she was in no condition to consent to sex - yet there were several boys who had sex with her. I am not clear as to why that count was dropped,and the other count stuck. But IMHO he did not serve enough time, for the right crime. However, since he was technically convicted of a felonious crime that at the time of its occurrence, he was sentenced accordingly. It was not until after the crime was re-classified as a misdemeanor, that the case got more attention in the courts and the media. (esp the portion of his conviction that labeled him as a child molester, and would have required him to register as such after his release). I am not sure that I agree that people who were convicted of crimes and sentenced accordingly should receive lessor sentences if the crime is reclassified as a lessor crime at a later date. (which is really the crux of the case,not whether or not he had oral sex with a minor) Either way - One can only hope that this kid has learned something from all of this, and take his second chance to heart- and not get into any more trouble (which in and of itself is a whole other topic)

I value the above comments; I'm a journalist and despise the fact that news agencies run incomplete stories on the Web (not bothering to review the evolution of the story--especially in court cases). If, in fact, it's true he sat around and didn't stop others on the tape from raping the second girl: That is horrible. The obvious question is: Was he found not guilty of rape because of a lack of evedence, or did reasonable people deduce that his actions were not criminal? I suppose we'd have to see the tape (not something I'd relish) and hear the testimony. At the end of the day, that's what the judge and jury were for, right? I'm curious as to why you chose not to sign your post. Are you actually "a resident of GA and also a colleague of someone who sat on the grand jury that indicted this kid"? Again, I'm glad you posted, but your anonymous insistance that he's actually guilty of rape is about as believable as the news media's repetition that he's innocent (which is: not very, either way). As for issue of retoactive laws, I can only say that I would be beside myself with anger if I was innocent and my crime was reclassified and it didn't affect me. Wow. That's insane. But, then, I don't have a lot of faith in the accuracy of our justice system (which obviously leads to my absolute opposition to the death penalty). I certainly don't prefer that which is employed in other countries. I'm just saying I have a healthy distrust in the system. One thing I noted in reading a few news stories on this kid: apparently, one of the credentials for being wrongly accused is the fact that he was Homecoming King. It's always listed along with the fact that Ivy League schools were courting him as an athlete and he got good grades. I'm sorry, but you can still be an enormous asshole and have all of that still apply.----ryan, or monkfrombelize@yahoo.com (if you want to give me an earful, whoever you are)

my bad- I was so into my comment,i really did forget to sign this, but I sure David prolly deduced this was from me. Coburn