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Gunslingers Dressed in Hot Pink
Alabama has been in the forefront of new, not necessarily good, ideas lately. The state that brought back chain gangs has announced, in May, 1995, that it will begin dressing male prisoners who habitually expose themselves to female guards in hot pink pants and shirts. The DOC has ordered 50 of the outfits, hoping to shame the prisoners into not exposing themselves. The outfits are being made by prisoners working in a DOC garment shop. The first set of outfits was returned to be recolored because one prison official said they were not "pink enough." Charlie Bodiford, spokesman at the Holman prison, said nothing else has worked. "We've even taken disposable cameras and taken a picture of them and told them we were going to send it to their mothers. They don't care," he said.
Alabama deputy DOC commissioner J.D. White told the media that "The heckling from the other inmates is the thing they are not going to like." Referring to the exhibitionists as "gunslingers," no details were disclosed as to what criteria would be used before the prisoners were dressed in these outfits. Bodiford characterized some 20 to 30 Holman prisoners as "habitual gunslingers."
Apparently it hasn't occurred to Alabama prisoncrats that perhaps the "gunslingers" could use some therapy or counseling. Stan Brodsky, a former prison psychologist now teaching psychology at the University of Alabama, stated that if their goal is to irritate female guards, the outfits might just encourage the "gunslingers." "If the women officers don't react, I suspect it's a behavior that will diminish on its own," he said. We're sure that hot pink outfits will get to the root of the problem.
Alabama deputy DOC commissioner J.D. White told the media that "The heckling from the other inmates is the thing they are not going to like." Referring to the exhibitionists as "gunslingers," no details were disclosed as to what criteria would be used before the prisoners were dressed in these outfits. Bodiford characterized some 20 to 30 Holman prisoners as "habitual gunslingers."
Apparently it hasn't occurred to Alabama prisoncrats that perhaps the "gunslingers" could use some therapy or counseling. Stan Brodsky, a former prison psychologist now teaching psychology at the University of Alabama, stated that if their goal is to irritate female guards, the outfits might just encourage the "gunslingers." "If the women officers don't react, I suspect it's a behavior that will diminish on its own," he said. We're sure that hot pink outfits will get to the root of the problem.
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