ATLANTA (AP) — A former high school football star who became a national symbol for the extremes of getting tough on sex offenders was ordered released from prison Monday by a judge who called his mandatory 10-year sentence for consensual teen sex "a grave miscarriage of justice."
But the joy felt by Genarlow Wilson's family rapidly turned to disappointment as Georgia's attorney general announced he would appeal, a move that will keep the honor student behind bars for now. He has served for more than 27 months.
Wilson's sentence was widely criticized as being too severe, even by members of the jury that convicted him and the author of the 1995 law that put him behind bars.
Some supporters, including former President Jimmy Carter, have said it raised questions about race and the criminal justice system. Wilson and five other males charged in the case are black, as are the two teenage girls involved.