Nancy Lockhart has been working behind the scenes to bring the plight of Jamie and Gladys Scott to national attention. Interest in the story spiked recently but, with no recent developments, interest is beginning to flag. Nancy would like you to get personally involved. The message below tells you how.
Alan Bean
Message from Nancy Lockhart
Jamie and Gladys Scott both went before the Mississippi Board of Pardons and Parole today. Results from this hearing are unknown at this time. Please continue to call and e-mail governor Haley Barbour’s Office in support of their release. Each call and e-mail is very important!
Contact Information For Governor Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733
governor@governor.state.ms.us
Re: Urgent Action Needed For The Scott Sisters
Media activities surrounding Jamie and Gladys’ case are diminishing and pressure needs to remain on Governor Haley Barbour to release both sisters immediately.
Please assist us during Monday December 13, 2010 – Tuesday December 21, 2010 by talking about the Sisters and requesting that your listeners call, and e-mail Governor Haley Barbour’s office in support of freedom for Jamie and Gladys. This time frame is chosen so that calls and e-mails reach the governor before the Mississippi State Government holiday.
Suggested Methods:
Bloggers – please copy and paste the information found in italics below in your blogs.
Blog Talk Hosts – Please place Action Needed For the Scott Sisters in your program headings so that The Scott Sisters rank higher in Google searches. Also, copy and paste the information found in italics into the Blog section of your Blog Talk Radio accounts. Please read this short script at some point in time during your programs.
Radio Stations – Please read the information below on your programs daily. Currently, Rip Daniels of WJZD in Gulfport, Mississippi (www.wjzd.com) is the only brick and mortar media outlet mentioning the plight of The Scott Sisters on a daily basis.
Whether the Scott sisters are innocent or guilty, any reasonable person can see that the punishment they received does not fit the crime. In addition, Jamie Scott is very ill and suffering from stage 5 renal (kidney) failure. Currently, it’s up to Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour to commute their sentences and pardon them.
Each sister is currently serving double life sentences each for an $11 robbery – that’s 4 life sentences between the two sisters. To date the sisters have been in prison 16 years. Let governor Barbour know that you ‘re seeking justice for the Scott sisters now!
In Solidarity,
Nancy Lockhart, M.J.
Friends of Justice 
I sent an e-mail to the governor.
What is clear beyond doubt is that these sisters are the victims of someone’s malice. The decision to offer the actual perpetrators of the crime leniency to get them to testify against the Scots itself reeks of malice, the out of proportion double life sentences are certifiably crazy even one would think for the Jim Crow states of the US.
The questions on which focus needs to be concentrated is who was it who hated the Scots so much, was it just one individual or was it a group, was it personal or just normal race based hatred of Negroes?
Ditto.
Alan.
I know that your main focus is on race based injustices to black citizens of the US and there is more than enough such cases to occupy you 120% of your time, however Negroes are not the only ones subjected by the US to prejudice fueled persecution under colour of law, Muslims and Arabs deemed to be terrorists or supporters of terrorists are copping their share.
One case which has not yet gained the attention it deserves in the US blogosphere and to which I would like to draw your attention is that of Aafia Siddiqui. Just as in the case of the Scott sisters the viciousness of the sentence, 86 years for trying but not actually succeeding to kill US soldiers leads one to suspect malice and also as with the case of the Scott sisters there is reason to suspect that Aafia Siddiqui did not perform the actions of the crime.
I refer you to this article on Andy Worthington’s blog as as good a place as any to start. Review Andy’s archives for more background. Further articles will also be found on Cage Prisoners (www.cageprisoners.com) and Justice for Aafia Coalition (www.justiceforaafia.org).
One of the weird things about this case is that I believe Aafia Siddiqui is being held in prison effectively incommunicado, even being prevented from speaking to family so as to prevent her claiming that she was a US prisoner in Bagram for the five years immediately prior to her mysterious appearance on an Afghan street carrying papers and other things helpful to supporting a prosecution against her for conspiracy to commit a terrorist act.
So you mean there are no sentencing guidelines?
You can’t trust the federal government on this issue, that is my experience. Not life imprisonment, but still a big problem for me — I was held by DOJ for 5 months without an arraignment or bail hearing. There was no government prosecutor who filed any criminal information and no one even claimed I broke a law. I was accused of engaging in PRO SE civil litigation against third parties without permission.
If I may make a suggestion. Calls and emails to Governor Barbour should ideally come from Mississippians who are registered voters and who vote. Public officials like to hear from their constituents. And rest assured public officials will remember them come re-election time. Just a suggestion towards an effective lobbying effort.
@Carlyle
It is not just race based prejudice. Basically, it seems that prosecutors want to convict because they see conviction as an accomplishment and don’t care whether the accused are guilty or whether the punishment is important.
Most other people are simply afraid to get involved when there is prosecutorial misconduct, malicious prosecution, or incarceration without criminal charges. They see many worthwhile causes and they don’t believe that they will be on the receiving end of prosecutorial misconduct.
corrupt to the core.
i’m tired of commenting about it.
Sister’s kidney donation condition of Miss. parole
AP
Jamie Scott AP – This is a Aug. 21, 2010 photograph released by the Mississippi Department of Corrections of Jamie Scott …
By HOLBROOK MOHR, Associated Press Holbrook Mohr, Associated Press – 2 hrs 13 mins ago
JACKSON, Miss. – For 16 years, sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott have shared a life behind bars for their part in an $11 armed robbery. To share freedom, they must also share a kidney.
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour suspended the sisters’ life sentences on Wednesday, but 36-year-old Gladys Scott’s release is contingent on her giving a kidney to Jamie, her 38-year-old sister, who requires daily dialysis.
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The sisters were convicted in 1994 of leading two men into an ambush in central Mississippi the year before. Three teenagers hit each man in the head with a shotgun and took their wallets — making off with only $11, court records said.
Jamie and Gladys Scott were each convicted of two counts of armed robbery and sentenced to two life sentences.
“I think it’s a victory,” said the sisters’ attorney, Chokwe Lumumba. “I talked to Gladys and she’s elated about the news. I’m sure Jamie is, too.”
Civil rights advocates have for years called for their release, saying the sentences were excessive. Those demands gained traction when Barbour asked the Mississippi Parole Board to take another look at the case.
The Scott sisters are eligible for parole in 2014, but Barbour said prison officials no longer think they are a threat to society and Jamie’s medical condition is costing the state a lot of money.
Lumumba said he has no problem with the governor requiring Gladys to offer up her organ because “Gladys actually volunteered that as part of her petition.”
Lumumba said it’s not clear what caused the kidney failure, but it’s likely a combination of different illnesses over the years.
Barbour spokesman Dan Turner told The Associated Press that Jamie Scott was released because she needs the transplant. He said Gladys Scott will be released if she agrees to donate her kidney because of the significant risk and recovery time.
“She wanted to do it,” Turner said. “That wasn’t something we introduced.”
Barbour is a Republican in his second term who has been mentioned as a possible presidential contender in 2012. He said the parole board agreed with the indefinite suspension of their sentences, which is different from a pardon or commutation because it comes with conditions.
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An “indefinite suspension of sentence” can be reversed if the conditions are not followed, but those requirements are usually things like meeting with a parole officer.
The Scott sisters have received significant public support from advocacy groups, including the NAACP, which called for their release. Hundreds of people marched through downtown Jackson from the state capital to the governor’s mansion in September, chanting in unison that the women should be freed.
Still, their release won’t be immediate.
Mississippi Department of Corrections Commissioner Chris Epps said late Wednesday that he had not received the order. He also said the women want to live with relatives in Florida, which requires approval from officials in that state.
In general, that process takes 45 days.
Mississippi NAACP President Derrick Johnson said the Scott sisters’ release will be “a great victory for the state of Mississippi for two individuals who received an excessive sentence” and he has no problem with the kidney donation requirement because Gladys Scott volunteered.
“I think it’s encouraging that she’s willing to share a kidney so her sister can have a better quality life,” Johnson said.
National NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said the suspension of the sentences represents the good that can come with the power of governors.
“It’s again proof that when people get engaged, keep the faith, we can win,” Jealous said.
(This version deletes incorrect reference to Barbour granting a suspended sentence to student’s killer.)
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Then she is out of jail but there is no precedent to help someone who doesn’t have a relative with a need for a kidney.
Yes, exactly. There are two prongs to the “free the Scott sisters” strategy. First, we get these two human beings back in the free world, then we use their story to educate the public about the horrors of mass incareration. The two goals are both important but must be considered separately. Snatching a few brands from the burning is a very good thing, but we really need to put out the fire, and that will require changing the national consensus.
Alan
Thanks for this update. The kidney issue is being used as face-saving cover by a governor who doesn’t want to look soft and who really doesn’t want to appear to be caving in to the civil rights community. “Civil Rights” is not a term of endearment for most Mississippi Republicans.