Ben Jealous and NAACP Sleeping With The Enemy

Well it appears that NAACP is sleeping with the enemy.  You see, The NAACP believes, what Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour believes, that government should control our bodies and can do what it likes with them after it declares us to be a criminal." As Desiree Washington also noted, "This action of making organ donation compulsory if one wants a fair prison sentence transforms an act of altruism into state oppression that could imitate and rival China’s lucrative forced organ harvesting market." Read More Here 



What am I talking about? I'm talking about how Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour on Thursday of last week, suspended the life sentences of two black sisters who’d already served 16 years for an armed robbery that netted $11. Barbour conditioned the suspended life sentences on the promise that one sister would donate one of her healthy kidney to her sister, who is presently on dialysis paid for by the state to the tune of about $200,000 annually. And get this, the national office of the NAACP is making bizarre comments about his decision, saying,  “This is a shining example of how governors should use their commutation powers.”


AAP says: There goes NAACP President Benjamin Jealous again, this time he is stepping up as Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour "yes um" boss man, negro...


I agree with the Root's E.R. Shipp, "Pardoning two women serving life sentences for an $11 robbery they may not have committed is hardly a profile in courage." Read More HERE




(above) NAACP President Benjamin Jealous plays in black face and charlatan for Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour

As reported by Desiree Washington, many are saying that Barbour’s conditional pardon may be unethical and possibly illegal”


Get this, Michael Shapiro, chief of organ transplantation at Hackensack University Medical Center in New Jersey, told the Reuters news agency. “He is unaware of the procedures of transplantation that include making sure donors are not coerced.”


I'm in agreement with so many black bloggers, like who are raising questions about the NAACP Sleeping With The Enemy, and Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour brand of  Mississippi justice.


As Earl Ofari Hutchinson noted, Jealous’s praise of Barbour as a “shining example” was stunning, given Barbour’s years of resistance in the face of a national campaign for the sisters’ release and the conditions he imposed on the two women when he finally did show mercy. Thirty-six-year-old Gladys must donate a kidney to 38-year-old Jamie, who is seriously ill. Meanwhile, four convicted killers whom Barbour earlier pardoned and another whose life sentence he suspended had no conditions placed on them in return for clemency, despite the brutality of their crimes.  More HERE


As Reid Report Editor Joy-Ann (“Joy”) Reid a political columnist for the Miami Herald and editor of The Reid Report noted;  Ah, Mississippi justice. … The women, who are being housed in different parts of a prison just outside Jackson, Mississippi, say they want to go to Florida to be with their mother and children. Florida corrections officials would be in charge of making sure the kidney ransom is paid.

And while it’s a very good thing for the women to be freed, one wonders whether Barbour would have done it had he not come under fire for his ridiculous comments on race and the segregation era, and were he not likely seeking the presidency. I’d wager a guess it wouldn’t have happened. The Scott sisters’ case isn’t new. It has been a cause among activists for years.


Here’s Barbour’s statement on the release. I’m surprised he didn’t add a condition that the sisters appear in a campaign commercial for his presidential run, praising him as a fine example of Southern courtliness and good favor toward the colored people."  Read more HERE

Black Women get Double Life Sentence for $11.00!C

Mississippi gave Gladys and Jamie Scott each a double-life sentence in an armed robbery where no one was murdered or harmed and the amount alleged to have been taken was a whopping $11.00.

This is a damn shame and a total injustice, says, African American Political Pundit. Can we get a post racial review of this injustice in Mississippi?







H/T and Shout Out to Nancy Lockhart, M.J.
Website: www.freethescottsisters.com


Scott County, MS ---- In a trial fraught with legal malpractice and witness coercion, Mississippi Judge Marcus Gordon oversaw one of the most blatantly corrupt trials in history, culminating in the staggering over-sentencing of sisters Gladys and Jamie Scott to double-life each in an armed robbery where no one was murdered or harmed and the amount alleged to have been taken was a whopping $11.00.

On December 24, 1993, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department arrested the Scott sisters for armed robbery even though three young males, ranging from ages 14 to 18, confessed to committing the crime. Despite this, the corrupt Mississippi sheriff used coercion, threats, and harassment to compel them to turn state’s evidence against the Scott sisters due to a long-standing vendetta against a family member. The 14-year-old male would later testify that he did not read the statement and was pressured to sign a written statement prepared by the sheriff without an attorney being present.

As if that weren't bad enough, these young women received incompetent legal representation at the lower court trial. Their attorneys, Firnist J. Alexander, Jr. and Gail Shaw-Pierson failed to interview and subpoena witnesses, only calling one witness when there were several. Incredibly, the jury never even heard any testimony from the alleged victims. The sisters were advised to not testify on their own behalf by their attorneys, Alexander and Shaw-Pierson, denying them the opportunity to speak for themselves.

In October of 1994, Jamie and Gladys Scott were sentenced to extraordinary double life terms each in prison, even though neither sister had prior convictions and there was no violence involved in these charges.

The four State’s witnesses provided conflicting testimony and one alleged accuser was not called to testify – he was not questioned or subpoenaed by defense attorneys Firnist J. Alexander, Jr. or Gail Shaw-Pierson. Witnesses admitted however, that reports prepared by the Sheriff, of their descriptions of the event contained no such claim. In other words, the sisters were not present. Jamie and Gladys Scott were not involved in the armed robbery and they did not conspire to plan such. Witnesses all testified that they were coerced and threatened by Deputy Sheriff Marvin Williams. Testimony also revealed that Marvin Williams prepared statements of the events from the night of December 24, 1994 BEFORE obtaining signatures and BEFORE the witnesses were brought into his office. In other words, the statements were not written by witnesses. (1) Three affidavits exist – they all state that the Scott Sisters were not involved in this robbery. One affidavit is written by a trustee of the local jail, his account of the facts reveal that a wallet was located a few days after this alleged robbery and that wallet contained the photo ID of one of the alleged victims of the trumped up robbery and three twenty dollar bills. The trustee also reveals that there was NOT a robbery, he was also threatened to be sent to Parchman Penitentiary if he told the truth.

According to the Request for Commutation of Sentence and/or Pardon prepared by attorney Chokwe Lumumba, the Scott Sisters challenged their convictions on direct appeal; arguing that there was insufficient evidence to convict them, and the guilty verdict was against the overwhelming weight of evidence, which should have exonerated them. The court of appeals found no error and affirmed the convictions on December 17, 1996. As a result, they filed a Petition for Writ of Certiorari to the Supreme Court, which was denied on May 15, 1997. They consequently filed an Application for Leave to File Motion to Vacate Conviction pursuant to the Mississippi Post Conviction Collateral Relief Act. The Supreme Court also denied that application.

This family is shell-shocked, yet determined to fight on. They have tried to have faith that at some point this unbelievable travesty would be corrected and their upside-down lives righted. Yet 14 long years later nothing has changed, the women's five children are still being raised by their now ailing mother, and their father has died of a massive heart attack because of this. The emotional strain this burden has placed upon their family is immeasurable.

Jamie Scott writes, "What began as an implication and outright miscarriage of justice, has catapulted to destroy an entire family. Gladys was a 19 year old pregnant mother, and myself, Jamie, a 22 year old mother during the time of our arrest, conviction and sentencing for a crime we did not commit." She continued, "We are convinced that once this chain of events is exposed and unraveled, the events that occurred, the lives that have been destroyed, the pain and suffering the citizens of Scott County have endured; everyone will be utterly amazed, astonished and compelled to assist us in our plight for freedom. We pray that the people would insist upon an investigation into their misconduct and miscarriage of justice."

Gladys and Jamie’s older brother has recently returned from Iraq and has served in the US Army for 22 years, while his sisters remain victims of wrongful convictions in the very country that he proudly represents. The defendants and their family are wholly depending on support from the press, organizations, and all those dedicated to justice in making this debacle as public as possible.

Information source:

THE COMMITTEE TO FREE THE SCOTT SISTERS
CONTACT: NANCY LOCKHART, M.J.
P.O. BOX 389
Green Pond, SC 29446
Phone: 641-715-3900 Extension ~ 99222
Website: www.freethescottsisters.com
E-Mail: thewrongfulconviction@gmail.com


What You Can Do

Please Call The Governor's Office For The Scott Sisters

Please call the Governor’s office and ask to speak with Governor Haley Barbour. Please relay the message below.

1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150

Hello Governor Barbour I am calling in support of The Committee To Free The Scott Sisters.

My name is:________________

I would like to bring to your attention the case of Jamie and Gladys Scott.
The Scott Sisters have served 14 years 5 months of a double life term where no one was murdered or injured. State’s witnesses have testified to their innocence.

Their MDOC numbers are 19197 and 19142. Please free the Scott Sisters.

Thank you for your attention to this matter Governor Barbour.

If you choose to mail a letter to the governor via US mail the address is:
Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205

Thank you for your assistance in The Campaign ~To Contact The Governor Of Mississippi!