Grit TV w/Anthony Papa and Atty Jaribu Hill

From: Nancy Lockhart

Listen to Anthony Papa and Attorney Jaribu Hill - The Scott Sisters

Anthony Papa, author of 15 to Life, discusses Haley Barbour's stipulation that Gladys Scott had to donate a kidney to her sister to earn a commuted sentence for both. (1minute)

Watch the full conversation at GRITtv: Freeing the Scott Sisters: Clemency and Race - http://www.blip.tv/file/4587955

(12 minutes)

The price of freedom from an overly harsh sentence in Mississippi? Apparently, one kidney. That's the promise Mississsippi governor Haley Barbour extracted from Gladys Scott--that she would donate a kidney to her sister Jamie in order for both of them to have their sentences commuted. The sisters had served nearly 17 years in prison for an armed robbery worth $11, and a prolonged grassroots effort finally paid off in achieving their freedom--though it may have more to do with Barbour's attempt at making up for his recent approving comments about the White Citizens' Councils.

Joining us to discuss are Anthony Papa, author of 15 to Life and manager of media relations at the Drug Policy Alliance, and from Mississippi, Jaribu Hill, executive director of the Mississippi Workers' Center for Human Rights.

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NORDETTE ADAMS INTERVIEW W/MRS. RASCO

From: Nancy Lockhart
Date: January 4, 2011 10:21:33 AM EST

http://bigsole.blogspot.com/2011/01/mother-of-scott-sisters-discusses-their.html


Mother of Scott Sisters Discusses Their Release

By now many of you have heard the good news that this past Wednesday December 29, 2010, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour announced that he is suspending indefinitely the sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott, African-American sisters who have been in a Mississippi Prison since 1994 on armed robbery charges. Despite neither sister having a criminal record, the two were convicted on the words of three teenage boys who confessed to the crime and received reduced sentences in exchange for testifying against the sisters.

Jamie and Gladys were ages 22 and 20 respectively at the time of conviction and each was sentenced to double life with no chance of parole for 20 years. No one was physically injured during the crime, and the boys who handled the gun and walked off with the $11 stolen, were released years ago. The sisters have maintained their innocence, but whether you believe they are guilty or not, most people concede, after hearing of their sentences, that Mississippi treated the Scott Sisters unjustly. And while supporters are overjoyed at Gov. Barbour's decision to free the sisters, the victory for many seems bittersweet. Jamie has been on dialysis for the last year and one condition of her sister Gladys's release, said Gov. Barbour, is that she donate a kidney to Jamie as soon as possible.

Nordette Adams talks to their mother, Evelyn Rasco who now lives in Pensacola Florida about their impending release. Mrs. Rasco, with the help of advocate Nancy Lockhart, has worked tirelessly for her daughters' release since their conviction. As would be expected, she is overjoyed that after 16 years, her daughters will come home.