Why is Ga. stifling its craft brewers?
When Georgia’s breweries created a system connecting tour prices to the rarity or quantity of craft brewery souvenir beers, the Department of Revenue said nothing. When these tours went live in July, the Department of Revenue said nothing. When Burnt Hickory Brewing of Kennesaw and Creature Comforts Brewing of Athens held special bottle-release events, mini-festivals where attendees had the chance to obtain one-of-a-kind offerings, the Department of Revenue said nothing. They could have put an end to it at any point, but they said nothing.
Now the department has issued a post-dated bulletin rescinding a brewery’s ability to engage in the souvenir-tour model that was the law of the land for the last three months. With no period for discussion, no public hearing, just a PDF posted on a September Sunday, the gains of the last three months have been wiped out.
This decision is abrupt, nonsensical and a dramatic step backwards for Georgia’s craft beer culture. Why are Georgia’s breweries being forced further behind the competition in other states? We should encourage these local businesses to grow and thrive, not place further restrictions on their expansion into new markets.
CENATE PRUITT, DECATUR
Death penalty is simply hypocrisy
The execution of Kelly Gissendaner was an enormous waste of time and money. The death penalty has been shown repeatedly to not be deterrent, so it’s purely about revenge — an eye for an eye. Did Gissendaner’s death provide “closure” to the victim’s family or prolong their suffering over years of legal challenges and appeals? In the end, their loved one isn’t coming back. What this execution really did is expose the hypocrisy of many conservatives. These folks regularly state abortion is a sin because killing a human is wrong, that only God can decide who lives and who dies — yet they strongly support the death penalty. So they want the state to play God and don’t see the hypocrisy in their position?
FRANK MANFRE, GRAYSON
Execution remains effective deterrent
Justice has been done, Kelly Gissendaner has been executed for masterminding the killing of her husband, and closure for his family has come. A few years ago, a killer went on a killing spree, and when asked why he did not kill in Texas, he replied that Texas has the death penalty and enforces it. The death penalty is a deterrent to murder when the would-be murderer knows the penalty can and will be execution. Would it not be better to prevent murder, via 100 percent enforcement of the death penalty, as opposed to seeking cooperation and offering life in prison in exchange for divulging where the killer left the body?
BILL SMITH, STOCKBRIDGE
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