By Bill Rankin
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Saturday, November 22, 2008
The lead plaintiff in a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn parts of Georgia's sex-offender registry law is now trying to eliminate her classification as a sex offender.
Wendy Whitaker's status as an offender violates the Constitution's guarantee against cruel and unusual punishment, says her new lawsuit, filed Friday in Columbia County Superior Court.
Whitaker, 29, is on the registry for having consensual oral sex with a classmate three weeks before his 16th birthday. Whitaker had just turned 17. Both were high school sophomores.
Because of her 1997 sodomy conviction, Whitaker must register as a sex offender for life and comply with the law's residency restrictions that bar her from living within 1,000 feet of designated areas where children congregate.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/11/22/offender.html?...