Georgia legislator takes this on .

From the story:

Sen. Emanuel Jones (D-Decatur) left a state prison about 60 miles south of Atlanta convinced he's doing the right thing.

He visited the prison this week to talk with Genarlow Wilson, a 20-year-old Douglas County man whose 10-year sentence has sparked controversy and received national attention.

Wilson's crime?

At age 17, he had consensual oral sex with a 15-year-old girl.

The football star at Douglas County High School had a 3.2 grade-point average and no history of trouble with the law. Yet a jury convicted him of aggravated child molestation, and a judge sentenced him to a maximum 10 years in prison.

State legislators decided last year that such offenses should be punishable by a maximum of one year in jail. But Wilson was sentenced before the new law took effect. It does not apply retroactively. So Wilson remains in prison — even though jurors thought the sentence was too harsh.

"How can this happen?" Jones said.

He has filed a bill that would let judges change or suspend sentences for such crimes. The proposal would give judges a year to reconsider the punishment in cases they heard before July 1, 2006, when the new law took effect.

If it passes, the bill would let the judge who sentenced Wilson impose another punishment. It's possible Wilson could go free if that happened — he already has served 23 months.

"Finally it seems like there might be some prayers that might be answered," said Wilson's mother, Juanessa Bennett. "Every night I pray ... I know that this is going to be OK."