No justiceNo justice
By Brandon Astor Jones
"The best use of [justice and] law ... is to teach men to trample bad [justice and] law under their feet." — Wendell Phillips (1811-1884).
BAJ: What is your name and number?
BP: Bernard Primas, EF316275.
BAJ: Tell me, did the law give you justice?
BP: Justice — what a strong but weak word. I'm incarcerated for a crime I didn't commit. I didn't get any justice, just a life sentence.
BAJ: You know that a lot of prisoners make the claim of innocence. What sets you apart from those who are lying?
BP: I know. All I can say is, I'm 100% innocent. Other prisoners who lie and proclaim their innocence not only make it hard for themselves, but for people like me that really are — and, as a result, people like me are less able to get help. Lying only makes things worse all around.
BAJ: Well, I hope that you regain your freedom; and, in the meantime, I hope that this term of imprisonment does not break up your family. What is your family doing to prove your innocence?
BP: They care about and love me very much, but, like me, there seems to be nothing that they can do. They try, but they have been unsuccessful.
BAJ: You are lucky to have a family that cares. Do you think your family members believe in your innocence?
BP: Yes, they believe in my innocence. A lot of my family knew of my innocence but turned their backs on me. My mom stands behind me 100%. There is a limit to how much she can do, though, because she is raising 10 kids.
BAJ: A lot of misinformed people do not realise just how strongly race and gender figure in what does or does not happen in a criminal courtroom. Being black and male in a largely white judicial system are key components of a judicial outcome in the United States. Nevertheless, in hindsight, what do you think that you might have been able to do as a young black man that would have caused you to miss this experience?
BP: I've been wrongly convicted by an insensitive judicial system. I don't know, man. My first reaction was 'Damn!'. It was not a shock, though, because as a black man in America, I had conditioned myself to be prepared for the worst.
I don't think that I thought I would be sent to prison. In those days — I should add, long ago — I had a degree of misplaced trust in the system. I see now that from day one, the justice system believed I was guilty. Sometimes it's not the actual facts that make you guilty, but the jury's unconscious collective thoughts.
I'm a 26-year-old father of five. I've been locked up for two and a half years for a crime I didn't commit. Many men and women are being locked up who are not guilty. The so-called "justice " process needs to be taken more seriously. Each case should be reviewed much more carefully on its own merits, instead of being dropped into one big political bucket.
I'm just keeping faith, but not really knowing what more I can do. I keep hoping that someone will read this and be moved to help me. I've been wrongly convicted. This so-called "justice system" is not only hurting me, but it's hurting my family as well. Man, this ain't no justice. There is no justice!
[The writer is a prisoner in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, Georgia State Prison, HCO1, Reidsville, GA 30453, USA. For the first time in 17 years, Brandon has the real hope of his sentence of death being mitigated. If you can help by contributing to his defence fund or in other ways, please contact Australians Against Executions, PO Box 640, Milson's Point NSW 2061. Phone (02) 9955 1731, fax 9427 9489. Cheques can be made payable to "Brandon Astor Jones Defence Fund".]