From prison inmate to Morehouse grad.

Written by: stacia_doss

Genarlow Wilson.

Does this name ring a bell? It may not for a lot of people, but it does for me. The other morning, something made me turn my radio to something I don’t normally listen to. I heard an announcement on the Tom Joyner radio show about Genarlow Wilson. Joyner explained how Wilson had recently graduated (or is going to graduate) with honors from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. I couldn’t help but smile at the sound of this news.

I first randomly stumbled upon Mr. Wilson’s story in 2007, the summer after my first year in college. His background can be explained here (from Morehouse.edu):

“In 2003, he was 17, a Douglas County (Ga.) High School senior, a football star and homecoming king who was fielding interest letters from Ivy League schools. But during a party, he was videotaped while a 15-year-old classmate performed consensual oral sex on him.

An old Georgia law considered that child molestation and a felony, carrying 10 years in prison since the girl was under 16. Through a quirk in the law, had they had intercourse he would have only faced a year in jail.

Wilson was found guilty and sent to prison.

The sentence’s harshness was denounced by the likes of civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson along with former President Jimmy Carter. Heavy criticism forced Georgia lawmakers to change the crime to a misdemeanor punishable to a year in jail.

But it wasn’t retroactive, meaning the law spurred by Wilson wouldn’t free him. The Georgia Supreme Court eventually deemed Wilson’s sentence was cruel and unusual. He was released in October 2007 after two years in prison.”

The story gained a lot of attention and some people were outraged. Wilson maintained his innocence. Though the video presented in court showed the young woman willingly performing oral sex on Wilson and the other young men present at the party, the young woman said she was too intoxicated to remember engaging in such acts. (Yes, remember this was a 15-year-old with a 17-year-old).

During the time that I read his story, Wilson was still in jail. I found out later that year about his release but I never heard anything about him after that. Issues like this (possibly mis-directed?) sodomy law, (among others instances like this and this case) show how backward some southern states, and particularly, the state of Georgia was in 2003 and still is. But Wilson did not let that stop him from being a successful young man. He may not be playing in the NFL but he has overcome adversity and accomplished success despite the one reckless night that cost him years of his life in prison.

I encourage you to read more about him. You probably won't hear the positive outcome of his story on CBS or CNN or ABC, but you won't have to look hard to find out about his jailing. The announcement on the radio is all I could find about Wilson's success at Morehouse, but I will continue looking online. He has been criticized for being honored by his accomplishments, but I believe that his punishment was by no means equivalent to his "crime."