U.S.A. Today: NAACP Backs Pardon For Miss. Sisters Serving Life
By Chris Joyner, USA TODAY
Sept. 16, 2010
JACKSON, Miss. — Evelyn Rasco, who has been
pushing for her daughters, Jamie and Gladys Scott to be released from
prison for 16 years, picked up two big supporters Tuesday — the attorney
who prosecuted the case and the president of the NAACP.
Jamie, 38, and Gladys, 36, are serving life
sentences in Mississippi for their role in a 1993 robbery that netted
$11, despite having no prior criminal record. The three men also
arrested in connection with the robbery pleaded guilty and have served
their terms. Two of them testified against the sisters in return for
lesser sentences.
The prosecutor, Ken Turner, who since retired,
said Tuesday that while he believes they are guilty, some relief for the
sisters' sentences is "appropriate."
NAACP President Benjamin Jealous, in Jackson on Tuesday, officially asked Republican Gov. Haley Barbour for a pardon.
"It is a travesty that in the state of
Mississippi, the lives of two Black women are valued at little more than
11
dollars," Jealous said in a statement. "From the outset, the
measures in which the Scott Sisters were convicted were questionable and
pattern themselves after dubious criminal justice trends in Mississippi
and nationwide. We intend to pursue justice to the fullest extent for
the Scott Sisters, and will continue our push for criminal justice
reform throughout America."
Jackson City Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, a former
attorney for the sisters, said he will meet with Lucien Smith, legal
counsel for Gov. Haley Barbour, Wednesday morning. "I think we'll have a
chance to get first-hand from the attorney what all the requirements
are for filing a petition," he said. "He may be able to give us a feel
for what the governor thinks."
Advocates for the Scott sisters, who have been ratcheting up calls to pardon them on blogs, podcasts, Facebook pages and YouTube videos, plan a rally Wednesday in Jackson to call on Barbour to order their release.
"I have picked up so many supporters," Rasco said. "I think by people reading this, it really touches their hearts."
The Scott sisters were accused of orchestrating
the armed robbery of two men on a rural road near Forest, Miss., on
Christmas Eve 1993. According to court documents, the sisters enticed
the two men to take them on a ride to a nearby nightclub. Witnesses
testified that during the ride Jamie Scott
complained of nausea. When the car pulled over three men in a following
car robbed them at gunpoint. After the robbery, the victims testified
the sisters left with the three men. Both the victims and the accused
are black.
Democrat Lumumba, one of the rally organizers, said the sentence they got was "unduly severe."
"In most jurisdictions, in cases like this they would not even ask to give them a life sentence," he said.
Pastor C.J. Rhodes of Mount Helm Baptist Church in Jackson said there are larger concerns at work.
"Here you have the trinity of race, class and
gender playing itself out in our system," he said. Poor and black,
Gladys and Jamie Scott did not have the resources to adequately defend
themselves in court or to pursue the case through the appellate system,
he said.
The sisters did not testify at their trial and no
one testified on their behalf. They were represented at trial by
Firnist Alexander, a local attorney disbarred two years later on charges
unrelated to the Scott sisters. The Mississippi State Supreme Court
rebuked Alexander for "lack of diligence" and failure to communicate
with clients, according to court documents.
Many people drawn to their cause say that the verdict is beside the point.
"Even if the assumption is the jury made the
right verdict, certainly (Barbour) has to see with us that the sentence
was more than it should have been," Lumumba said. So far, advocates say
they have heard no response from the governor.
So far, efforts to sway Barbour have had no
success. Dan Turner, spokesman for Barbour, said the governor has
pardoned state criminals in the past, but that he has been "very
consistent in not substituting his judgment of guilt or innocence over
the court."
Joyner reports for The Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
***
Listen To The W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio Specials:
Still Strange Fruit: 'The Eyes Of Willie McGee' Author Alex Heard & Major Scott Sisters Update (2nd Hour)...
All Eyes Are Still On Mississippi: Free The Scott Sisters!!!
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/weallbe/2009/09/17/Tha-Artivist-PresentsWE-ALL-BE-News-Radio
Also On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio...
***Check Out The Scott Sisters Update Featuring Sis. Nancy Lockhart 3/24/2010 (Starts In The 2nd Hour)***
Also On W.E. A.L.L. B.E. Radio...
***Check Out The Scott Sisters Update Featuring Sis. Nancy Lockhart 3/24/2010 (Starts In The 2nd Hour)***
More Scott Sisters On W.E. A.L.L. B.E.:
***
UNTIL THE SCOTT SISTERS ARE FREE NEITHER ARE WE!!!
UNTIL THE SCOTT SISTERS ARE FREE NEITHER ARE WE!!!
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