AG Defends 10-Year Sentence for Teenage Sex

In Thurbert Baker's own words: "As attorney general, it is my responsibility to follow the laws of Georgia as they are written, not how some may wish they were written." Baker was defending, in an opinion piece in the Altanta Journal-Constitution, his prosecution of a Georgia teenager who was sentenced to 10 years for engaging in oral sex with another teenager. 

The crime, a felony at the time Genarlow Wilson was charged, was later reduced to a misdemeanor. A judge threw out the harsh sentence earlier this month, and ordered Wilson, now 21, released. Baker said the judge's action—essentially sentencing Wilson to a misdemeanor—was illegal. The AG said he had offered Wilson a plea deal that would have resulted in a shorter sentence, but that offer was rejected. (More crime stories.)