There's no question how the jury found him guilty. There is a law in place. There is video evidence of him breaking the law. Guilty.
The sentence is what you should be questioning.
There's no question how the jury found him guilty. There is a law in place. There is video evidence of him breaking the law. Guilty.
The sentence is what you should be questioning.
coopington wrote:
The sentence is what you should be questioning.
and the law itself
and the governor
and the prosecutor
and the state legislature
there's no shortage of fault here. pretty unbelievable that all of these actors can be so callous.
kaitainen wrote:
will it prevent him from having a wife and kids? no. decent job? i don't think it will be much of a problem - the felony conviction is more important than the sex offender label.
I'm not disputing what you wrote but, having no experience with this at all, it seems to me that having the sex offender label very well might keep him from getting a good job. I mean, what employer would give him the time to explain the situation. And what woman would want to date a "sex offender"? Even if he does get married, the job issue and having to report his residence to the authorities could hurt his chances of remaining married. I guess he'd have to report the felony label on a resume indefinitely. Do the sex offender requirements ever lapse?
Several people in power need to step up and be adults about this. I realize it's tough to write a law that only traps the people who deserve to be in trouble and doesn't ensnare anyone who doesn't but this situation is crazy!
i bet this will be a law and order episode within 3 months
Reading that just ruined my day.
Don't Know Much wrote:
I'm not disputing what you wrote but, having no experience with this at all, it seems to me that having the sex offender label very well might keep him from getting a good job. I mean, what employer would give him the time to explain the situation. And what woman would want to date a "sex offender"? Even if he does get married, the job issue and having to report his residence to the authorities could hurt his chances of remaining married. I guess he'd have to report the felony label on a resume indefinitely. Do the sex offender requirements ever lapse?
Many employers will give him a chance to explain. Anyone who employs a large number of people has seen a few cases in which an applicant was labeled as a sex offender for reasons that don't make much sense. Employers know that these things happen. That isn't to say it won't hurt his ability to get a job at all, but he will have a chance.
The idea of a family is, unfortunately, much more difficult. I can't imagine that "Hey, can I buy you a drink? But first I just have to tell you that I'm a registered sex offender" works as a pickup line. Add that to the fact that by the time he gets out of prison he'll already be 27 (I think, not sure). At that age, statistically most people who aren't married yet won't get married. If he's from a small community where people know him and know his story, he may be able to lead a normal life in his home town because people will know the truth and he won't have to explain.
All this being said, I don't want it to sound like I think the guy has it easy or anything. That couldn't be further from the truth.
As for the law, this is the problem with reactionary law. Something probably happened in Georgia years ago that got people pissed off and made them put this law on the books to make sure that they were tough on this kind of activity (why else would oral sex be a worse crime than real sex). Same idea with the sex offender registry in the first place. laws should react to societal issues and changes, but changes in the law need to be reasoned decisions, not emotional responses.
Harry Kooter wrote:
As for the law, this is the problem with reactionary law. Something probably happened in Georgia years ago that got people pissed off and made them put this law on the books to make sure that they were tough on this kind of activity (why else would oral sex be a worse crime than real sex). Same idea with the sex offender registry in the first place.
i wouldn't be surprised if this law originated as you speculate, but i also wouldn't be surprised if it is simply a really old law. for a long time "sodomy" was illegal. so i could see there being a sodomy statutory rape law that is separate from a "normal" statutory rape law. one got updated, one didn't.
I'm not re-reading it, but what I picked up from the article was that not too long ago oral sex and intercourse would have both been 10 years. Something like what happened to this guy happened to someone else involving intercourse and they changed the law, but just for intercourse basically forgetting to reduce the sentence for oral sex (and possibly other things as well). Then this happens so they chance the law for oral sex, too late for this guy though...I think that was one of his lawyers arguements, that the legislature had already intended to change the law but had screwed it up...
Harry Kooter wrote:
Add that to the fact that by the time he gets out of prison he'll already be 27 (I think, not sure). At that age, statistically most people who aren't married yet won't get married.
You are probably right but I think by age 27 it's probably close to 50-50 for men getting married.
This info is from
http://www.unmarried.org(which may or may not be a reputable source).
Median Age at First Marriage:
Men:
1990: 26.1
2000: 26.8
Women:
1990: 23.9
2000: 25.1
Marital status of American adults:
Men:
1990: 39% unmarried
2000: 42%
Women:
1990: 43% unmarried
2000: 45%
Had to post this to reassure myself. I'm not yet ready to give up looking for a wife! And I'm not going to check the stats for someone my age! :)
Arkman wrote:
I get your point. However, it doesn't matter if he was asking for it. A lot of people "ask for it". The point is, the BJ did not deserve ANY punishment.
Bookmark this page, and when some guys videotape your 15 year old daughter, drinkin' scotch, smokin' pot, and givin' b*******s in a seedy hotel room, we'll ask you again what you think...
Pamela Anderson's Left Nipple wrote:
Bookmark this page, and when some guys videotape your 15 year old daughter, drinkin' scotch, smokin' pot, and givin' b*******s in a seedy hotel room, we'll ask you again what you think...
It was bourbon, actually. And if you really would give a guy 10 years for letting your daughter drink and decide to give him oral sex, you're a disgusting person and I'd tell you so to your face.
Ultramiler wrote:
Pamela Anderson's Left Nipple wrote:Bookmark this page, and when some guys videotape your 15 year old daughter, drinkin' scotch, smokin' pot, and givin' b*******s in a seedy hotel room, we'll ask you again what you think...
It was bourbon, actually. And if you really would give a guy 10 years for letting your daughter drink and decide to give him oral sex, you're a disgusting person and I'd tell you so to your face.
Agreed. Pam you pretty much Flag Pole two at this point, a thoroughly disgusting individual.
im in wrote:
I am currently attending an Ivy (and while I run for my team, I got in on my academics) and I smoked weed, drank, and had sex with my girlfriend who was under the age of consent (not concent). The only thing that differs was that it was a not group sex and I knew the girl. Otherwise, I have engaged in all the illegal activities he did. Granted, I never videotaped it, but that was only because my girlfriend was against it, I tried to convince her numerous times. I have never felt like I was headed towards jail for my actions, I am an overachieving student athlete who at this point in life is quite happy with what I have accomplished. I come from a pretty rural place where everyone, including myself is white. So smithersville, am I as likely to head to jail as this kid, or does being white and excelling at cross country make my actions less likely to put me in jail as black football stars would?
Go confess at the police station that you had an underage girl to assuage your white guilt, and see if being white will protect you, it won't. The only thing that could help you from such a confession or VIDEO TAPED EVIDENCE is that the crime took place too far back to be prosecutable under law.
To my friedns "huh" and "Ultramiler":
My response was to the person who says the BJ doesn't deserve any punishment.
I don't think the individual should have gotten 10 years. I don't think he should have gotten 10 minutes in jail. All I was postulating was that if it were YOUR 15 year old daughter, wouldn't you be pissed and want someone to be punished? If it were MY daughter, I can guarantee you that I wouldn't be sitting around thinking "ah, my little angel"...
The young lady was Black. I have lived in the town since 1980. It is a suburb of Atlanta and has a Black population of @ 30 percent. This isn't a racial thing.
This just in:
Judge: No 10-year sentence for teen sex
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070611/ap_on_re_us/teen_sex_case
Still has to make it through the appeals but we'll see.
"Several influential people, including former President Jimmy Carter, stepped forward to support Wilson."
Just out of curiosity, how does that happen? This did appear to be a miscarriage of justice from the start, but I wonder why certain cases that fit that bill are able to garner this kind of attention/involvement from "influential people." Widespread publicity and connections can only explain so much.
Pamela Anderson's Left Nipple wrote:
To my friedns "huh" and "Ultramiler":
My response was to the person who says the BJ doesn't deserve any punishment.
I don't think the individual should have gotten 10 years. I don't think he should have gotten 10 minutes in jail. All I was postulating was that if it were YOUR 15 year old daughter, wouldn't you be pissed and want someone to be punished? If it were MY daughter, I can guarantee you that I wouldn't be sitting around thinking "ah, my little angel"...
As a general rule, you should not put things in your mouth unless you know where they have been.
he was a kid that made stupid mistakes. whats worse is that when he gets out he'll be branded a child molester. that will follow and haunt him for the rest of his life.
the 15 year old girl is as much a criminal as the boy. she also made stupid mistakes. getting drunk in a hotel room with football players... what about her parents? are they criminal? you bet.
my sweet richard wrote:
whats worse is that when he gets out he'll be branded a child molester. that will follow and haunt him for the rest of his life.
If you read the Yahoo link posted above, you will see that he will no longer have to register as a sex offender.