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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No, Sen. Johnson, I Don't Want to Be in Your Facebook Group

Sen. Eric Johnson doesn't read my blog. How do I know? Because if he had read this, this, this or this, he would never have sent me this:


Eric invited you to join the Facebook group "Eric Johnson for Lt. Governor of Georgia".To see more details and confirm this group invitation, follow the link below: (link here)

Eric Johnson for Lt. Governor of Georgia

Democrat or Republican, Eric Johnson is the last person in Georgia I would consider supporting for Lt. Governor. From his lies on the senate floor regarding Genarlow Wilson and his use of that situation to build his own name id without regard for the impact on all those involved, to his pathetic use of special needs children to further his agenda to divert funds from public education and his failure to stand up for working families who are struggling to find affordable health insurance for their children, Johnson has repeatedly demonstrated that he cares most about taking care of (1) His own political ambition and (2) A narrow group of constituents who agree with his radical agenda.

So, no, Sen. Johnson, I do not want to be in your "Facebook group."

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Tom Crawford: Supreme Court Sides With Wilson

From Tom Crawford:

State Supreme Court overturns Genarlow Wilson freed from prison --
Rules that the 10-year sentence for having consensual sex as a teenager was 'cruel and unusual punishment' . . .
As posted on Capitol Impact's Georgia Report at www.gareport.com

Thank God.

Perhaps Glenn and Eric will try to impeach the Supreme Court judges, too. I mean, after all, who needs three branches of government?

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We Have Completely Lost Our Minds

The "adultification" of children is now officially absurd. We expect our children to swim in a sea of sexually exploitative media that adults use for fun and profit, and then are surprised when kids act out sexually.

This morning, when I turned on the computer, one of the top stories was about thirteen-year-old boys being charged with sex crimes for slapping girls on the butt at school, and another was about a nine-year-old getting offered a credit card. In our public schools, a child who gets into a fight or "disrupts a school"(a rather broad concept that surely would've included some of the pranks we all pulled as teens), doesn't just get disciplined by the school, but, in addition, often faces charges in juvenile court. We are criminalizing typical teen behavior, applying a one-size-fits-all model and failing to empower the adults closest to the situations-parents and teachers-to apply discipline, reason and compassion.

We have simply forgotten to treat children like, well, children. In Georgia, the Genarlow Wilson case has gotten lots of attention, but the truth is, it's just the tip of the iceberg. I'm no idealist when it comes to addressing sexual offenders or disruptive or dangerous teens. At one point in my life I supervised a residential treatment program for children who had committed sexual offenses and had other significant behavior problems. Gov. Perdue would never be able to cure these children with just the right foster family. For most the intervention was too little, too late. We have dealt our children a ridiculous hand-we expect them to manage adult information and responsibilities and then suffer adult consequences. And, at the same time, we fail to provide their most basic needs, and then marvel that they behave as they do.

Check the new Kids Count data.

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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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Fred the Fake: The Ultimate Washington Insider

How ironic that, according to The Marietta Daily Journal, Sen. Eric Johnson has dubbed Fred Thompson a "down to earth candidate" for whom there is "no political correctness." While Johnson was spinning the truth on the floor of the Georgia Senate to make sure Genarlow Wilson stayed in jail, Fred Thompson was working just as hard to make sure Scooter Libby never saw the inside of a cell.

In 2006, Thompson served on the advisory board for Libby's legal defense fund and hosted a fundraiser for Libby at his home. So, while Johnson was working to make sure that one jury's verdict stood, without regard to truth or justice, Thompson was working to make sure another jury's verdict was up-ended, again without regard for truth or justice. Is their mutual lack of regard for what is just what Johnson refers to as "down to earth"? It's hard to know, but I can see what they have in common.

I agree that this actor can act down to earth, like when he rented a red pick up truck and used it as a campaign prop during the Tennessee senate campaign so he could pretend to be every man's man. The truth is that Fred Thompson is an actor, a lawyer, a lobbyist and the ultimate Washington insider. Don't buy the act.

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And Justice for All

While much energy has been expended to protect the words "under God" in our Pledge of Allegiance, the powerful phrase, "liberty and justice for all" has been all but ignored of late in Georgia.

On the one hand, Genarlow Wilson sits in jail for a crime that would, under today's law, be a misdemeanor, and, on the other hand, Gov. Perdue has replaced Dee Simms, preferring to instead to appoint someone who pledges to work within the system to advocate for our children. What Simms courageously and accurately pointed out, and what Genarlow Wilson exemplifies, is that sometimes, it is the system itself that is broken, and in those instances, courage of conscious, sometimes at great personal risk, is required to right the wrong so that there really can be "liberty and justice for all."

By the way, I think Dee Simms ought to run for office, and while the legislature might be a good place to start, I think that this former prosecutor and advocate for Georgia's children would make one heck of an Attorney General. (My personal musings only.)

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Conservative Christian Horrified at Perversion of Justice

In the ongoing saga of Genarlow Wilson, check this post by Will Hinton on Peach Pundit. Here's a nugget to entice you:

"Does Genarlow Wilson deserve to be punished? Absolutely. Is sentencing him for 10 years in jail for oral sex just? Absolutely not. As a conservative Christian, I am horrified at this perversion of justice. There is nothing “conservative” about sentencing this young man for 10 years in jail. And there is nothing just about the sentencing either."

I am not sure what Johnson expected when he posted yesterday, but it was probably not this. The issues in Wilson's case obviously transcend political parties and labels of "conservative" and "liberal." This is about whether or not the General Assembly has the strength of character to admit a mistake and do the right thing to correct it.

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Johnson Responds and Hypocrisy Knows No Bounds

If I were Senator Johnson, I might not've chosen a blog as the vehicle to respond the the whoopin' he received on CNN this weekend, but I guess he didn't want to take the chance of once again looking ridiculous on national television. So, Sen. Johnson has posted "his take" on the Wilson case on Peach Pundit. Please go read his ridiculous diatribe and please comment. The only reason I can imagine him using this forum to respond is that he must be catching it, even from his base. His problem is that the response makes him seems even less reasonable. He would like us to believe that when the legislature changed the law they did not anticipate that it a "six on one" situation as occurred here. Is he saying that the legislature did not anticipate that teenagers have sex at parties? Well, perhaps, we all wish that wasn't true, but, please...

I would say that Senator Johnson was the self-ordained morality police, but if that were true, he would be policing his own members. What hypocrisy.

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"Ashamed to Be a Republican"

That's how one CNN viewer said Sen. Eric Johnson's remarks made them feel. Yes, Georgia, and Sen. Johnson in particular, were once again in the spotlight on CNN tonight. For those who missed it, last night, CNN reported that, standing on the floor of the Georgia Senate, Sen. Johnson made grossly inaccurate remarks about the case of Georgia's Genarlow Wilson who is serving a ten year prison sentence for having consensual oral sex with fifteen year old girl when he was seventeen. When the Senate was considering taking steps to correct this injustice, Johnson rose and claimed that the girl was unconscious (not true) and that the act was rape (also not true). (A Typical Joe has the transcript of the CNN story here.)

Lucky for Wilson, Johnson's remarks have created quite a stir. Maybe it will make a difference. Viewers from all over the country have responded and most are simply astonished that Georgia lawmakers have failed to correct this injustice. CNN vows to keep watching as Wilson's attorney asks lawmakers and Governor Perdue to help right this wrong. Come on folks, this is wrong. This young man's life is on the line. The whole country is watching. DO SOMETHING.

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