What's in a name?
"I'm a supporter of the death penalty. But we don't want people to say 'Jackson' and the first thing they think of is the electric chair. We don't want to be labelled. We feel very uncomfortable. Since the electric chair is there, that prison should carry the name of Georgia instead of a town." — Charlie Brown
The above remarks belong to the mayor of Jackson, Georgia. He said the words to the Georgia Corrections Board. Let me explain. There is a "let's not be soft on prisoners" mind set afoot. The Jackson prison's old name (Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Center) did not have a tough enough sounding handle, so it was changed to Jackson State Prison.
This prison provides employment for 500 of Jackson's citizens. That is a lot of jobs, but while the major appreciates those jobs, there is a problem. Mayor Brown does not like the idea of his town being labelled as the place where they kill people. He supports the killings completely, but he does not want his town's good name sullied with them.
Excuse me? Am I missing something here? Is this more than a little hypocritical on the mayor's part? The prison is expanding, and the mayor wants more jobs for his town's citizens. He does not want to anger the Corrections Board, so he was as nice as possible when he asked the board to change the prison's name yet again.
Board member Olsa Boynton understands the mayor's concern. For example in Milledgeville, Georgia, there is a state mental health facility. Boynton was quoted as saying, "I was 17 years old before I realised everybody from Milledgeville wasn't crazy". One wonders: did he also think that everyone from New York was unfriendly? Or perhaps he thought that all people from San Francisco were gay? Nevertheless, the board honoured the mayor's request on September 5. The prison has been officially renamed the Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison.
In less than a year, the prison has had three official names. All but two of Georgia's 38 penal institutions have undergone similar name changes. There are a lot of things I could say about all of this, but I will restrain myself. I trust the intelligence of my readers. I cannot say I trust those who control Georgia's local/regional politics and prisons. The pretentious absurdity of it all, sadly, boggles the mind.
I am moved to paraphrase the title character's words from the film Forrest Gump. Hypocrisy is as hypocrisy does, in Georgia.
[The writer is a prisoner on death row in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, EF-122216, G2-51, Georgia Diagnostic and Classification Prison, PO Box 3877, Jackson, GA 30233-7800, USA. Australians Against Executions is raising funds to pay for a lawyer for Brandon's resentencing trial. If you can help, please make cheques payable to the Brandon Astor Jones Defence Account and post to 10 Palara Place, Dee Why NSW 2099. Donations to the Brandon Astor Jones Defence Account may also be made at any Commonwealth Bank, account No. 2127 1003 7638.]