How an Ethics Bill Becomes a Law

As a young Georgia state representative in only his second term, then-Rep. McCracken Poston took on the powers under the golden dome of Georgia’s state capitol building. Reeling from personal, physical and political setbacks, Poston faced opposition across the political spectrum in trying to pass Georgia’s first lobbying registration and gift reporting laws.

An endearing story about a young man with idealism close to being dashed, Poston describes the circuitous and difficult path that an almost universally agreeable bill - outside the state capitol - had to take against forces inside.

Three Hundred Thirty-Nine Dead Bodies

McCracken Poston, Jr. defended all members of the Marsh family in Noble, Georgia, in the infamous Tri-State Crematory case.

Poston is in the early stages of writing his book on this experience, revealing a unique perspective on race, justice, and redemption.

Representing A Zenith Man

Soundly defeated in a race for the U.S. Congress, divorcing, and in a professional free fall, McCracken King Poston, Jr. found himself at the nadir of what was once a promising political career, ending up back in Ringgold, Georgia in his moribund law practice.

At the same time, local malcontent and failed Zenith television repairman Alvin Ridley needed a lawyer, as he was accused of keeping his wife Virginia captive in their home for over two decades before killing her.

Poston, still smarting from his political loss, took the case in spite of the community’s feelings about Ridley. He soon discovered, however, he had an extremely difficult and uncooperative client.

While Poston tried to work with Ridley, the lawyer was not yet aware of why he and his client were always at odds. As Poston worked at building back his personal and professional life, representing Alvin Ridley threatened to jeopardize both.

Poston and Ridley had to learn how to work together, and did, after an amazing discovery in Ridley’s dilapidated home turned the case, and the community’s presumptions about Alvin Ridley, upside down.