government & law FROM DISTRICT ATTORNEY: DAVID MCDADE David McDade has served in the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office since 1982. He was elected to the position of District Attorney in 1990. You can visit the District Attorney’s website at www.DouglasCountyDA.org.
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest. Those words from Benjamin Franklin come to mind when I see many of you buying school supplies for your children. As the new school year approaches, many of you will have teenagers beginning high school. High school starts a journey full of opportunities and decisions--some of them having a major impact on your children’s future aspirations. Knowledge is the greatest investment, especially for high school students wanting to create a better life. Our teachers and school administrators do an incredible job of conveying this message, but some students still refuse to listen. Many of them have been in our courtrooms. Our courtroom has become a turnstile for high school dropouts. On many occasions, I have heard defendants tell the court that they did not graduate from high school. Out of 54,555 prisoners in the Georgia Department of Corrections, 30,160 dropped out of school before the 12th grade. That is 55 percent of our prison population. The number of prisoners who graduated from a technical school (839) or four-year college (748) adds to popular theory that the likelihood of incarceration decreases as a person advances their education. Improving a child’s education opens the door to more opportunities. High school dropouts add to our prison population at a higher rate because their road to prosperity is narrowing, especially in our current economy. People who did not graduate high school have an unemployment rate of 10.7 percent, well above the 7.6 percent national average. It is becoming increasingly difficult to land a successful job over an applicant with a higher level of education. Struggling to earn a paycheck can lead to a life of crime. I know every parent believes this could not happen to their child. You trust your son or daughter will make the right choices throughout high school, but a lapse in judgment can alter their future and make them part of our criminal justice system. I have seen it too many times where a bad
choice leads to an arrest. Committing a crime can have a major bearing on a teenager’s future. Going to college and enlisting into the military are goals a person may never achieve if they have a criminal record. What steps are you taking to guarantee your child stays in a classroom and out of a courtroom? It is important that you know their inner circle. You also need to be aware of their friends and what their real plans are every night. It takes a support group to make sure our young people stay on the right path. A majority of prisoners have gone through life without someone pushing them to attend class, read a book, or embrace their favorite subject. Let’s follow Franklin’s lead and help our children invest in education. Let’s help an at-risk student contribute to society instead of the prison population. That decision, alone, will pay great dividends to Douglas County’s future.
Fire Still Burns For Douglas County’s Newest Prosecutor While head lights from vehicles light up the evening flow of traffic, a light still shines inside a second-floor office in the Douglas County Courthouse. It’s 7pm, and Lynne Voelker is just getting her second wind. Voelker, a nine-and-a-half-year veteran prosecutor hired earlier this year by Douglas County District Attorney David McDade, is frequently one of the last people to walk out of the District Attorney’s Office. Voelker’s dedication is no surprise to District Attorney McDade, who calls the hiring of Voelker a victory for victims and citizens of this community. “Lynne brings a passion for prosecution and victims’ rights,” said McDade. “It’s no secret my goal in life has been furthering the rights of crime victims. Lynne shares that desire for our victims. She is a prosecutor who is not going to waiver or back down from getting the justice those victims deserve. Our office is lucky to have added a person with her qualities and experience.” From the very beginning, Voelker has viewed her role as more of a calling than a job. “There is not another job like this, where you’re helping and making a difference,” she says. But her calling almost went unanswered. Voelker was a stay-at-home mom, but in 1998, as their childhood began to fade away, a new thought crept into her mind. The mother of two wanted to go back into the corporate arena and she believed a Juris Doctor (J.D.) would be the key to open up those opportunities. Voelker went part-time to Georgia State University, and scheduled a majority of her classes to coincide with the work and school schedules of her husband and children. By the second year of law school, ideas of rejoining the corporate world were a distant memory. The former businesswoman had taken an interest in prosecution while participating in moot court, an activity at many law schools in which students participate in simulated court proceedings. If moot court was the spark, then being on the school’s mock trial team added the necessary fuel for her new passion. “I met a number of students who were seeking careers in prosecution and several former prosecutors who provided support, encouragement, contacts and advice to all of us who showed an interest in prosecution,” Voelker said. “After being in that type of courtroom setting, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in that field.”
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