McDade: Wrong, Again

David McDade, Douglas County district attorney, infamous for his role in the Genarlow Wilson fiasco, is now registering his opposition to a proposal to alter the juvenile code to allow treating 17-year-olds in Georgia as juveniles rather than adults when they are accused of committing a crime.

Currently, Georgia is one of only fifteen states that treats an accused 17-year-old as an adult for the purpose of prosecution. Just a year after they are eligible for a driver's license, while they still cannot vote, cannot buy alcohol or cigarettes, while they still cannot even sign a consent for their own medical treatment, Georgia teens are prosecuted as adults. Now, a proposal put forward by JustGeorgia, a group working on a long overdue re-write of the juvenile code, proposes that 17-year-olds be treated as the minors they are, but McDade says:

“There’s plenty of evidence that 17- and 18-year-olds are committing some of the most violent crimes we see, and the juvenile system is not capable of protecting society from these violent offenders,” McDade said. McDade said he fears a change in the minimum age for adults in state courts would cause even more crimes among 17-year-olds. In McDade’s opinion, this proposed change, if passed, “would almost belike a recruiting poster for gangs” since 17-year-olds would suddenly face less stringent consequences for crime convictions.

First, no one is suggesting changing the rules for 18-year-olds. Second, what is it that a 17-year- old can do for a gang that a 16 year-old cannot? Third, Georgia law already provides that for certain crimes, teens even younger than 17 can be tried as adults, so don't think for a moment that what we're talking about here is a teen being told to write an essay when he's committed a violent crime. The juvenile system is far from summer camp. Fourth, following McDade's logic, I must ask, is it not possible to have a juvenile system that both offers the possibility of rehabilitation and protects us from violent criminals? Finally, is there actually any data that supports the idea that the crime rate is reduced when 17-year-olds are prosecuted as adults?

Don't get me wrong; I'm not soft on crime, juvenile or otherwise, nor do I think that every teen can be turned around. My professional experience includes working with some hardened, violent criminals who were even younger than 17. But, I would argue that it is the adult system that is ill equipped to deal with teens. Gernarlow Wilson's case is an excellent case in point. Punish, yes. Consequences for behavior, of course. Throw a life away without even a nod toward rehabilitation? At 17? I say no, and not just for the sake of the teen, but also for all of us. At some point, almost all of these teens will be released. They will live among us. What happens to them in the interim can, and often does, make them even more violent-even more dangerous. Given that, I don't know about you, but I'm willing to leave the door open to rehabilitation at least until the accused can vote for the district attorney who prosecutes him and, the convicted, the judge who sentences him.

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McDade Violated Federal Law

Per the AJC, Atlanta U.S. Attorney David Nahmias says McDade violated federal law when he distributed the Wilson videotape. Nahmias says that the tape is child pornography and that it is illegal for anyone to possess or distribute. Federal law on child porn trumps state law on open records. I guess that means McDade avoided the possible fine and misdemeanor for violation of the open records act but has exposed himself to a serious felony, as have those who have received, possessed or viewed the tape.

Does this mean that they're going to arrest Bill O'Reilly?

And Senator Eric Johnson?

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Worthwhile for Whom?

Imagine that you are a nineteen-year-old girl, horrified that a videotape of you having sex has been circulated to dozens of people. Legislators have watched it. Bloggers have had it "described to them," and portions of the tape have shown up on television news shows. Imagine how embarrassed, how ashamed, how violated you would feel. Now, imagine that a prosecutor, someone who said they believed that you were a victim, someone who you thought was on your side, was the one who distributed that tape, in response to a request, and without so much as a fight.

I don't know about you, but I think that people who distribute videotapes of teens having sex ought to go to jail.

Yet, in the Genarlow Wilson case, that's exactly what Prosecutor David McDade did. According to Shannon McCaffrey with the Associated Press, McDade, to comply with open record requests, admitted giving out about 35 copies of an amateur video showing Wilson receiving oral sex from a 15-year-old girl and having intercourse with another 17-year-old girl. The tape was used as evidence at trial, and McDade claims that compliance with Georgia's Open Records Act required that he give the tape to those who asked for it. That may be, but he didn't even bother to object to the requests. And he didn't even bother to obscure the faces of the victims.

And, this is not the first time the tape has been made available. Erick Erickson wrote about it on Peach Pundit in February:

I think, if I could get my hands on it, it would be worthwhile making the video tape of the incident available to the public. Even blowhard Bill O’Reilly who championed Genarlow has had to back away from his position after seeing the tape.

In the post, Erickson says (in the comments) that he has not seen the tape but has had it "described" to him. Apparently, O'Reilly did see it. But, for whom was releasing the videotape worthwhile? Certainly not to these young women or their families. Certainly not to the court. Only worthwhile to McDade.

This prosecutor has made what is important to him perfectly clear: bolstering his "position."

To do that, McDade has now put personal promotion ahead of protection of victims. McDade could have objected to complying with the open records requests. He could've forced a hearing on the issue, just as he has time and time again on other issues in this case. But he didn't. He claims that those who don't want the tape seen are disingenuous. "Most of those who do not want people to see the tape know that it is damning to their position," McDade said. This case is not about positions, it is about people's lives, and any argument that Mr. McDade would now make that his actions are about protecting victims is completely obscured by this act.

No matter where one stands on Wilson's sentence, the prosecutor should have taken extraordinary steps to protect these young women from the additional humiliation they now must feel. This is just wrong.

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