Bob
07-23-2007, 07:40 PM
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/21/us/21rape.html?em&ex=1185163200&en=58ec9c3500f7b7c7&ei=5087%0A
Basically the story is this
-in 2003, a 17 year old black male (honor roll student, prom king, clean record i believe) has consensual oral sex with a 15 year old girl at a party
-he was sentenced under an old georgia law, which makes oral sex with a minor a felony with a mandatory minimum 10 year sentence, plus he's now a registered sex offender for the rest of his life (if he'd just had sex with her, it would have been a misdemeanor under an exception for contact between minors). nobody wanted this kid to go to jail, the jury didn't want him to, the "victim" didn't want him to, the judge didn't want him to; apparently the jury did not realize the consequences of their actions, they were just strictly applying the facts to the law (i've learned in law school that juries are actually free to ignore the law when justice seems to demand it, but no jury seems to ever be told this, and the defense is not allowed to tell them that). but they went ahead and convicted him, and the judge went ahead and gave him the mandatory minimum 10 years.
- the state legislature reacts in horror and changes the old law so that his act would be a misdemeanor instead of a felony, but doesn't apply it retroactively, so it doesn't help him
- in june 2007, a county judge changes his sentence from a felony to a misdemeanor, and orders his release
what does the prosecutor do? he immediately appeals it! leaving the kid in jail until the georgia supreme court rules on the case. why? why would he do that? nobody wants this kid to stay in jail, but the prosecutor couldn't act quickly enough to keep him there. he says he was compelled to, but he had discretion, he could have chosen not to. what a dick
the law can be a real dinosaur when it wants to be
Basically the story is this
-in 2003, a 17 year old black male (honor roll student, prom king, clean record i believe) has consensual oral sex with a 15 year old girl at a party
-he was sentenced under an old georgia law, which makes oral sex with a minor a felony with a mandatory minimum 10 year sentence, plus he's now a registered sex offender for the rest of his life (if he'd just had sex with her, it would have been a misdemeanor under an exception for contact between minors). nobody wanted this kid to go to jail, the jury didn't want him to, the "victim" didn't want him to, the judge didn't want him to; apparently the jury did not realize the consequences of their actions, they were just strictly applying the facts to the law (i've learned in law school that juries are actually free to ignore the law when justice seems to demand it, but no jury seems to ever be told this, and the defense is not allowed to tell them that). but they went ahead and convicted him, and the judge went ahead and gave him the mandatory minimum 10 years.
- the state legislature reacts in horror and changes the old law so that his act would be a misdemeanor instead of a felony, but doesn't apply it retroactively, so it doesn't help him
- in june 2007, a county judge changes his sentence from a felony to a misdemeanor, and orders his release
what does the prosecutor do? he immediately appeals it! leaving the kid in jail until the georgia supreme court rules on the case. why? why would he do that? nobody wants this kid to stay in jail, but the prosecutor couldn't act quickly enough to keep him there. he says he was compelled to, but he had discretion, he could have chosen not to. what a dick
the law can be a real dinosaur when it wants to be