Yesterday the Georgia Supreme Court heard an appeal in the case of Genarlow Wilson, previously blogged here, here and here.
From the NYTimes:
Originally, the Supreme Court declined to expedite the case and was set to hear the appeals in October.
But this month, the justices apparently had a change of heart and squeezed the case onto its docket ahead of a scheduled break.
[Wilson’s lawyer] Ms. Bernstein thanked the court, saying,”Every day that a defendant spends in jail is a precious day of their life.”
As Ms. Smith, the senior assistant attorney general, urged the justices to remember Mr. Wilson’s victim, Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears interrupted.”But today it’s a misdemeanor,”Justice Sears said.
The presiding justice, Carol W. Hunstein, asked Ms. Smith,”What does the state have to say about criminalizing our children?”
“Teenagers make mistakes,”Justice Hunstein added.”Where is the justice in a 10-year sentence and being on the sex offender registry for the rest of that person’s life?”
What the State of Georgia has to say about criminalizing black male children, in particular?
The full article is here.
-Bridget Crawford
