” …I remember doing the same things as a teenager that these teenagers did. “

Two years ago, Genarlow Wilson was convicted of aggravated child molestation: As a 17-year-old boy, he had had consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl. The conviction carried a mandatory 10-year sentence. Now, even the jurors who convicted Wilson wish they could take back the verdict, and the case has attracted national attention — most of it, but not all, focused on how to get Wilson out of prison.

Some state legislators have proposed a law that would enable the judge in Wilson’s case to reconsider the sentence, but the proposal has run into strong opposition among lawmakers who believe justice was done in the Wilson case. Read more about the case, and tell us what you think: Should Genarlow Wilson be freed from prison?

Below is an article that I submitted in the blog concerning the case that was rejected. Is my article too extreme for Americans?

Genarlow Wilson should not be in prison. The criminal justice system should focus its attention on individuals and powers who exploit young people for political purposes. Today, we allow people and institutions in society to mislead the young and punish the young for the mistakes they make. Adults today are insidious. There can be no greater enemy to children than some adults. On the right hand, we instruct our children that they should make better choices. On the left hand, we program children to make choices contrary to the law.

When people fifty years and older were children, most of us did not see a playboy magazine or pornography until we were men and women. That was our experience in the South. Only God knows what children were experiencing in the North fifty years ago. While in college, someone introduced me to Hustler Magazine and Larry Flint; it was extremely disappointing. Remember now, this was a time when white adults did not take advantage of children openly in this regard. They realized that if children were introduced to sexual images and topics before they were emotionally prepared, their development would be perverted. They gave children the space to mentally mature in the South before taking on adult issues. My God have times changed.

Genarlow Wilson is a product of misguided educated adults. I do use the terms educated and adults loosely. The boy should not be in prison. These adults today will say, “but this child broke the law.” How insidious and sophomoric!