Political Quotes

“Today when regrettably when almost half of high school students report having had sexual intercourse, I want Members to consider the following: How would a court likely react when an 18-year-old star high school athlete, a student from a very disadvantaged background, manages a 3.9 average, 1200 on his SATs, full scholarship from Vanderbilt, is accused by a female acquaintance of rape after having sex with a girl less than 3 years younger. Now color the boy black and the girl white, and Members may not be surprised that Marcus Dixon received 10 years for this teen sex violation. To the credit of the State of Georgia, the State amended its law almost 10 years ago to deal with sex between teens and made statutory rape a misdemeanor. The prosecutor, however, wanted a conviction very badly here because he piled on six different charges, most of them involving forcible rape, and an additional charge of aggravated child molestation which is reserved for very heinous crimes. The jury had to contend with two very different versions. He said that she suggested please, let us not go to my house, my father is a racist and he has beaten me for less. She said she was a virgin and he raped her on a table. The jury apparently believed this was one more example of consensual teen sex by virtue of the fact that they convicted only for the misdemeanor rape charge.”