Letters, Sep. 27, 1971

George Jackson and Political Prisoners

Sir: Your Essay on political prisoners [Sept. 6] sadly represents the compromising logic of American liberalism. By asserting that George Jackson's $70 robbery "scarcely Warranted an eleven-year sentence" and that court "reform has proved to be a regression in many cases," you seem to be clearly aware of the inequities facing black political transgressors. Unfortunately, you are willing to prolong these inequities rather than risk a rapid overhaul of their source —America's outdated political and economic systems.

MAGGIE CONWAY Cleveland

Sir: In the hue and cry following George Jackson's demise at San Quentin, one slight bit of evidence is being overlooked by the bleeding hearts.

If Jackson's escape attempt was a hoax set up by prison authorities so they could murder him, what about the other five dead people? Did authorities kill the three guards and two prisoners to add authenticity to the hoax? Or did the five men sacrifice themselves in order to help "get Jackson"?

I say congratulations to the guard who killed Jackson with one shot through the head. Give him a big salary increase and a howitzer to aid him in aborting future prison breaks.

GEORGE G. HOUSER Nichols, N.Y.

Sir: Any penal system in which "authorities" are able to confine a man for as long as they desire, or until he is "rehabilitated," has got to be a poor one indeed. Certainly political prisoners exist in this country today. The authorities do not consider you sufficiently rehabilitated until you have lost all traces of any millitancy you once possessed. It reminds me, frighteningly, of George Orwell's 1984. DAVID SKINNER Santa Fe, N. Mex.

Sir: Your comment that "Even though he was a three-time loser, Jackson went to prison for a minor criminal offense, which scarcely warranted an eleven-year sentence," is a gross error which cannot go unnoticed.

It equates the seriousness of the crime with the profit it yields to the criminal. Armed robbery is a serious felony whether the robber nets $1 or a million dollars. The Panthers and their parrot-minded white liberal-running dogs should not feel they have lost an irreplaceable hero with Jackson's death.

The prisons and streets of our country are full of replacements adequate in every respect, from snub-nose revolvers to a pseudopolitical doctrine, to exculpate their licentiousness and shift the blame to where it does not belong.

JEROME G. QUINN Rochester, Mich.

Sir: Whether convicts are political prisoners or not, a parallel can be drawn between the lives of George Jackson and Alexander Solzhenitsyn. Jackson was certainly the victim in life, and quite possibly in his death, of "superiors" who hated and feared his ideology, as Solzhenitsyn is a victim of Soviet bigwigs who fear, or suspect, the power of his pen. Both were subjected unjustly to long, dehumanizing years in prison systems that try to destroy those who won't conform. Solzhenitsyn has survived, so far. Jackson did not but his letters show that his death was a waste.

CAROL GOODRIDGE Rockport, Me.

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