Not so dandy
By Brandon Astor Jones
"Bill Hutson ... has been a dandy sheriff for almost a quarter of a century. He is an old mountain boy and he loves bluegrass music. He would make a dandy governor." — Herman Allen
Some readers have asked, "What are the living conditions like while you are awaiting trial?". The following will given some limited insight into that question. This essay will be attached to a complaint filed against the Cobb County Sheriff's Adult Detention Facility (CCSADF).
For example, on August 15, in leg irons and handcuffs — the latter were connected snugly to a locked waist chain that confined each hand to my side — I had the need to move my bowels. The time was approximately 7.40am. I asked the deputy if he could remove one handcuff so that I could use the toilet, and perform the necessary hygienic functions afterwards.
The sergeant politely informed me that he could not do that despite the fact that I was alone and locked inside the cell. According to the rules and regulations, he went on to say, "All prisoners must use the toilet [while] cuffed and shackled". He then turned and walked away.
I stood there in obvious physical agony beyond 2pm. I was then taken to another floor and placed in yet another cubicle with nothing but a toilet in it. Again I requested to have one hand freed to use the toilet. That request too was denied.
When defence attorneys Treadaway and Gary were let into the cubicle to confer with me, I asked that they — on the court record — ask the judge to order the sheriff to free one of my hands so I can use the toilet. He was so ordered.
Mr Treadaway also noted that there was no basin for me to wash my hands, after using the toilet, but that was not an important matter to the sheriff. (The sheriff provides bag lunches to prisoners during court recess while prisoners' hands are still unwashed and cuffed to waist chains.)
Back at the CCSADF, I am frequently denied the use of a toothbrush before the morning, and after the evening, meal even though I often repeatedly ask — for hours sometimes — to be given one.
It took them no less than six days to allow me to take a shower. I got tired of begging for a shower, so I made a sign and attached it to the glass next to the cell door — past which a deputy walks every 30 minutes. In bold blue block letters, the sign read, "I WANT TO TAKE A SHOWER". I put up that sign on the fifth day.
The shower itself is so cluttered with filth and huge patches of black mildew that its wall tiles remind me of a pinto horse. Its smell literally takes my breath away. I even asked to clean it. I suspect you know the answer I got. Filthy behaviour (which is also health- and life-threatening) is encouraged so as to dehumanise prisoners at the CCSADF.
So I would beg to differ with the opinion the Kennesaw, Georgia, resident whose words in a letter to the Marietta Daily Journal head this column. Let us hope that the criterion for governor is something more than a love for bluegrass music. For the impeccably dressed law officer the very first step in the direction of the state capital ought to be having been a humane sheriff.
[The writer is a prisoner in the United States. He welcomes letters commenting on his columns. At present, he is being held under difficult conditions awaiting a resentencing trial and would appreciate letters. He can be written to at: Brandon Astor Jones, Aka Wilbur May, ID39359, POD-A, Cobb country Sheriff's Office, Adult Detention Facility, PO Box 100110, Marietta GA 30008, USA. 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. Fax (02) 9427 9489. Cheques can be made payable to "Brandon Astor Jones Defence Fund".]