The Patronage Of David McDade

Patronage positions are the last train whistle of the favored sons, the political ankle sniffers and the general scoundrels who need a job.

I leave to you how to place Douglas County District Attorney David McDade.

His quiet appointment to the State Council of Criminal Justice Reform seemed a weird footnote to Georgia's most heinous lack of judicial restraint since the 60s. But weird footnotes live in the places of political patronage and are usually not noteworthy.

But if those in high places start raising up a simple appointment to elevated position of praise worthy, it may be time to refresh some minds about what rocks were stepped on upon the way.

For those who were not around three years ago, David McDade made national headlines for prosecuting Genarlow Wilson. For a couple of hours of teenage stupidity, Genarlow Wilson was handed 10 years in prison and when every reasonable voice in the state called for relenting, McDade dug in deeper and deeper.

We can argue the nuances of the discretion of a prosecutor all day long; there are many shades and many arguments that we will not revisit now.

What we can not argue is the one heinous decision McDade made. Once he realized the sway of public opinion turned against him, he released a lurid tape of teens engaged in sexual acts. He distributed it to the legislators who were considering how to act on the odd case.

It would be bad enough if he used a piece of evidence from a criminal trial in an effort to turn legislation in his favor, but that pales when you realize he wouldn't stop until the Feds stepped in to not so gently reminded him of the possible violations of child porn statutes.

You have to ask yourself, is that the guy you want on a council for "Criminal Justice Reform"?