Injustice in Georgia: The Ed Kramer Case

Injustice In Georgia

Were you taught in school that every person is innocent until proven guilty by a court of law?

Were you taught that one of the rights of every American citizen is the right to a free trial?

Then how will you feel when I tell you that there is a man in Georgia right now who has been in and out of prison and on house arrest for seven years, without having been convicted of anything, or even brought to trial?

That man is Ed Kramer, once a well-respected editor, literary agent and anthologist in the fields of science fiction and horror, and a founder of the largest Science Fiction convention in the United States, DragonCon.

It all began in August, 2000. Ed was arrested following an anonymous phone call. He was accused of aggravated child molestation, surely a heinous crime, but one of which Ed has never been convicted. The evidence has never even been presented. Let me emphasis: in seven years of imprisonment or house arrest, Ed has never been brought to trial! He has been denied the right to attend synagogue, denied medical treatment, beaten, abused, maligned, and has served the equivalent of thirteen years under Georgia's definition of "time served." The case has been documented in the press and online, but nothing has been done about this terrible injustice.

Let me stress here: only Ed and his alleged "victims" know whether he is guilty or not. I do have a slight acquaintance with the man, and I don't know, though I doubt it. But that is not the point. It is for a court to decide the guilt or innocence of anyone accused of any crime in this country. And this is to be done quickly. In fact, Georgia mandates no more than eight months should pass between the accusation and the trial,[''Scandrett v. State'', 279 Ga. 632 (2005)] Yet when Ed's lawyer has tried to file a dismissal motion in 2006, it has been thrown out of court. A motion has been filed.