Organize the South

The most recent AJC article is just crazy. The mother of the girl Wilson is convicted of molesting came out and said Wilson’s conviction is unfair. Following this was a furious back and forth between the mother, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, and the Douglas County District Attorney’s office. Frankly, I believe it’s a shameful display of the DA’s use of power. Criminal justice policy in the US is too often controlled by the DA’s, and they aren’t worthy of having that kind of power. Check out the AJC article: http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2007/06/13/0614metwilson.html

Also related to the Wilson case, state attorney general Thurbert Baker is a punk. Within one hour of Wilson’s release being ordered, Baker said the state would appeal. Why? Because Baker is a gutless throwaway politician too scared of the good ol’ boy system to apply common sense. At least, that’s my theory. You can read Baker’s own words from his response to the AJC opinion. Baker says he’s just following orders, but he really tried to work it out with the defense attorneys. They refused everything. Why should they have taken the offer? Wilson was convicted of a felony that is now considered a misdemeanor. The judge said it should be considered a misdemeanor, but Baker and the Douglas DA want Wilson to stick to a felony. How is this a deal?

Time to dump Baker. Remember that at the polls.

And for you Douglas County residents, perhaps voting “No” for district attorney wouldn’t be a bad idea either.

For more info about the Wilson case check out these sites:

Wilson Appeal
ESPN feature
Recent ABC news article
Atlanta Magazine article
New York Times article
Wikipedia entry