Poplicks.com: WHAT TO READ: MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE EDITION

Georgia Inmate No. 1187055

Here are three stories of individuals who don't deserve to be behind bars:

ESPN's online magazine profiles the outrageous/incensing tale of Genarlow Wilson, a high school honor student, football star, and homecoming king from Georgia, who is now serving a 10-year sentence for receiving consensual oral sex from a female 15-year-old high school sophomore while he was a 17-year-old senior. Everybody and their mother agrees that that the act was consensual, and that the girl initiated it. Yet, Wilson was convicted under an antiquated Georgia law that makes it a felony for teenagers less than three years apart to have oral sex, even though it's only a misdemeanor for the same kids to have vaginal intercourse. That nonsensical law has since been revised, but the new legislation doesn't apply retroactively to Wilson, who has spent almost two years in prison now. The NY Times is one of many that have called for his release, but he still remains in jail. You can find out more and sign a petition here.

Credit: Darius M.

Julie Amero, a 40-year-old substitute teacher, is now facing a whopping 40 year prison sentence for exposing her seventh grade class to pornographic images. She alleges that she is the victim of a software virus that caused her computer to shoot out a swarm of pop-up ads with explicit images that Ralph, from The Simpsons, would describe as "Everybody's hugging." The facts seem to support her version of the story. According to this AP article, the DA claims that Amero intentionally clicked onto some pornographic websites. As anyone who has visited porn sites knows, however, a deliberate visit to one website may still lead to a viral infestation in the form of a pornucopia slide show that can't be stopped without unplugging the computer. That's what my friends tell me, anyway.

Here's yet another story of how high school students' self-incriminating posts on MySpace have led to their criminal arrests. Only this time, six 14- and 15-year-old girls in Tennessee have been charged with homicide conspiracy after their principal merely found a list with 300 names along with a message by one student that said, "Let's kill everyone on the list." In light of Columbine and its progeny, I don't blame officials for taking threats seriously. But what makes this arrest ridiculous is that the list included Tom Cruise, Oprah Winfrey and the Energizer bunny. Please.