Genarlow Wilson is free, NOW, justice is served!

I am not against the rule of law, in fact I wouldn’t have become a lawyer if I didn’t believe in the system and have a desire to change the world through law and politics. Lately, I’ve been a bit depressed about our legal system and here is why:

the American rule of law has serious moral obstacles to overcome

Torture has been validated by continued use of techniques to retrieve information and humiliate the enemy. The most ardent supporters of torturous activity can’t defend the fact that we’ve treated foreigners as “guilty until proven innocent” and it has gotten us into trouble. Though some cases of terrorism are obvious,… not all are and the law is skirted in the name of fighting terrorism.

On morality and Genarlow Wilson’s: Justice in the 21st century still isn’t color blind, and nowhere near perfect.

I raised the issue of torture, above, because of the implications of instilling America values and morality into the conversation of justice. Morality can have a profound impact on how the law is perceived and carried out.

If you were unfamiliar with Genarlow Wilson’s story, this kid was placed behind bars for having oral sex with a 15 year old. He was 17 at the time, and although we are aware that 75% of American children are sexually active by that time in their lives, archaic laws in Georgia weren’t very forgiving. Under the law of Georgia, Genarlow WIlson was scheduled to serve the legally required 10 years. The seventeen year old boy with a 3.2 gpa who was a great athlete and recruited by top collegiate football programs would instead end up jailed through his young adulthood for the crime of engaging in oral sex with a minor.

News Clip: The Georgia Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of Genarlow Wilson, the Douglas County man who has been serving a controversial 10-year sentence for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17.  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 Georgia Supreme Court today released Genarlow Wilson because the punishment didn’t fit the crime. They called his punishment excessive, “cruel and unusual punishment” and ordered the release. I think, finally, the courts got it right. The punishment was excessive, Genarlow Wilson was just a boy and he made a mistake that many boys make with girls around their age. Now, he is free and hopefully he can pick up his life where he left off and lead a successful and happy life. I hope that this is the beginning of a comeback by Justice in America, maybe holding the higher ups accountable for ordering and encouraging torture will be the next step forward in America’s move to clean up its act.

America is a wonderful place, we have a great nation, now all we have to do is restore the reputation we’d enjoyed for centuries before all of this negative press hit the main stream and tarnished our image.

Fred Soto is an Attorney and Entrepreneur from the Silicon Valley.
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