You guys live in one hell of a scary country...

Probably old old news to all of you across the pond but I just chanced upon this: Judge ponders appeal by man in prison for teen sexSome excerpts:

quote:

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A judge said Wednesday he'll rule by next week on the appeal of a man sentenced to 10 years in prison for having consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl when he was 17...

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...In 2003, Wilson was an honors student, standout athlete and homecoming king preparing for his SATs with an eye toward college. At a New Year's Eve party involving alcohol, marijuana and sex, someone videotaped the girl performing oral sex on Wilson...

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...Wilson has served more than 27 months in prison.

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and best of all

quote:

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Wilson's most vocal critic has been Georgia's top Republican senator, Eric Johnson, of Savannah.

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"This was not two star-crossed lovers on a date," Johnson wrote in an opinion piece opposing the bill written to help Wilson.

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Now ok, supposeldy this was a loop-hole, but loop-holes get you off, not send you down. When this loop-hole was closed it was not done retrospectively so allowing this poor sod to rot in jail.And the Judge is going to PONDER the case...?????????

Sorry, just have to add: THIS KID HAS SPENT 27 MONTHS IN JAIL FOR GETTING A BLOWJOB FROM A GIRL TWO YEARS YOUNGER THAN HIMAnyone care to defend this???

The world is filled with idiots. I've been one myself a few times.You?

You forgot the word "consensual." Kinda important.And of course the statutory rape laws as they exist and are applied over the majority of the US are completely messed the hell up.I remember this story. The poor guy was offered a plea bargain that would have kept him out of jail but required him to accept the de-facto life sentence of registering as a sex offender. He refused to accept any "deal" with such draconian terms, considering he's committed no real crime, and so they tossed him in jail, and he'll STILL have to register when he's released if nothing changes.The incident wasn't reported by the girl, either - it's not even a case of false-rape accusation or anything close to that. The girl testified in the boy's defense to say that he had done nothing wrong. The only reason anyone ever knew it had happened is that someone videotaped the couple without their knowledge. From what I remember, someone forgot to turn off a camcorder and left it on a table where it happened to catch the "offense" on tape.While there's certainly a need for sex-crime legislation, the way most of the laws have been written thus far are nothing more than thoughtless, cruel, unjust, and completely divorced from reality. There have been documented cases where, when 2 minors of the same age have consensual intercourse, both individuals are prosecuted, and both are considered to be both offenders and victims at the same time.The US is so sexually repressed that it forces a person to register as a sex offender for exposing themselves if a minor sees it, a life sentence so far as employment and the freedom to choose where to live are concerned, for something that may, in fact, have been accidental.[/rant.]

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Every time a fundy breaks the laws of thermodynamics, Schroedinger probably kills his cat.

Utterly preposterous. If they were to nab every guy who did the same they'd soon have lots of very busy prisons.....

My wife was on a jury selection panel for a similar case a few years ago - three years' difference in the ages of the couple, and consensual sex. The boy faced not only prison, but being a "registered sex offender" who would have his picture published as such in the newspaper every time he moved after his prison term.The old conservative farmers on the panel kept saying, "Hell, my Maw was fourteen when she and Paw got married! I couldn't vote to convict this kid! They were jus' doin' what comes natural!"I was impressed - juries out here normally hang 'em for anything.

So if any kid sees you after a cold skinny dip (we're talking sever shrinkage factor here) you are a sex offender?Yeah, that's scary.Somebody needs to shoot these uber-moralists ... doing it.Enjoy.

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAAmericanOZen[Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.

And this would be different how? We already have the highest percent prison population of developed countries .... (drugs, three strikes, mandatory prison = three ill smoked weed sticks)On the other hand, having so many more might topple the system down to a more reasonable scale ... (riiiiiight ....)

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Join the effort to unravel AIDS/HIV, unfold Proteomes, fight Cancer,
compare Fiocruz Genome and fight Muscular Dystrophy with Team EvC! (click)

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we are limited in our ability to understand
by our ability to understand
RebelAAmericanOZen[Deist
... to learn ... to think ... to live ... to laugh ...
to share.

Heh. True enough - especially for Marijuana...

Yeah, it's pretty much bullshit. If he'd just had sex with her - hell, if he'd raped her - it would have been a slap on the wrist at most.

I can't believe that nobody has pointed out that Romeo's lawyer's name is B.J. Bernstein.

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Those who would sacrifice an essential liberty for a temporary security will lose both, and deserve neither. -- Benjamin FranklinWe see monsters where science shows us windmills. -- Phat

This kid was Ivy League bound. The DA at the time said he would have gone easy on him if he had just "taken his medicine." This the Deep South. There are probably soddamy laws still on the books in multiple states here. Its really quite a pathetic incredible place.What do you expect in a country where you can get listed as a sex offender for taking a drunken piss at 3 AM behind a building?

Not sure to whom you're referring as the original idiot...But I am guilty of the same offense as this guy who has spent over two years in prison - the only difference being that this was while in a relationship.I am still enraged and ranting about this hours later - about someone not even in my own country.

On the other hand - how's that move towards universal electronic survelliance working out for you all over there?Oh, wait. Yeah, I got nothin'. Wish I was living over there where you are; had some of the best times of my life across the pond.

cavediver, before you start lambasting the yanks bear in mind that common sense and 'stating the bleedin obvious' don't reign over here either.I personally know of a 14-yr old (friend's daughter) who blackmailed her 16-yr old boyfriend when he dumped her for another girl. She threatened to tell her mum that they had -consensual- sex and that would qualify him for automatic prosecution, prison, sex-offenders register, etc.Unfortunately sexual offending has become a modern-day witch-hunt. The government may be robbing us blind, invading other countries, engaging in false imprisonment and illegal surveillance, but hey if we can imprison some vile 16-yr old for getting a blowjob from his girlfriend our moral values will have been upheld. We can all sleep peacefully tonight safe in the knowledge that justice and morality have once again prevailed.

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"In life, you have to face that some days you'll be the bug and some days you'll be the windscreen."