How would you feel …
Posted by Nick.
if one day, as a senior in high school, your future could not look brighter. Recruiting letters from collegiate programs looking for schollar athletes pouring in, graduation around the corner. One night of partying and somewhat questionable decision making, that would be par for the course for most teens in this country, can send you to jail in Georgia… for 10 years.
January 24th, 2007 at 10:43 pm Using
Now, this kid may have gotten himself into a questionable situation, but I don’t think that it is news that teen age kids have sex. And if this guy actually had sex with the young woman, it would have only been a misdemeanor … same level offense as public intoxication, simple assault (getting in a fight), or even jaywalking (all of us are guilty of at least one of these). But since this kid got a blow job he is guilty of a felony and goes to jail for 10 years? Imagine the number of high school kids that would be in jail if this retarded law existed and was enforced around the country? These shitty Georgia prosecutors should see “Kids” and take a look at some real life issues teens around this country deal with, and maybe address those instead of picking on a young black kid …
January 25th, 2007 at 1:46 am Using
Thanks for posting this one, Nick. I’ve been following this story off and on for a while, and it really upsets me every time.
No question that the guy made some typically poor teenage choices and got into a little trouble. Of the misdemeanor kind, sure. Of the sex-offender kind? No freakin’ way.
I definitely think you’re right to note that he’s a young African-American guy in a small Georgia town. No doubt that bullshit racism is playing some role here. But so are stupid antiquated laws and overzealous prosecutors and judges following the law to the letter, rather than in spirit. The state legislature and governor should step in to fix this mess.
Several other states I know of have special exceptions on the sex-offender law definitions that take into account the discrepancy in age between the parties. This guy was 18, the girl was 15. Consensual with regrets (what I think and hope this case is) or outright rape, it still makes a difference that he did it with another high school student, rather than a pre-teen child. I’m not advocating for what’s morally right or wrong, I’m just advancing the (not at all revolutionary) notion that the degree of severity in punishment should scale with the degree of repulsiveness/wrongness/violation of the crime.
If this guy’s actually a rapist, then the time he’s serving almost certainly falls short of the punishment he really deserves. On the other hand, though, assuming this young man is the victim of a malfunctioning legal system many believe him to be, then I wish him all the best with his case and I hope that is soon able to resume what remains of a normal life for him.