The NAACP and several other special interest groups urged Mississippi governor to pardon two women serving life sentences for a their part in a an armed robbery that netted $11.
In 1993, Jamie and Gladys Scott, sisters, played their position in a robbery by cajoling two men down a central Mississippi road where they were struck in the head and robbed by three teenagers. The net from the heist was $11.
The repercussions were mush worse. After the teens that were involved were caught and ratted out their female accomplices they were given reduced prison time, only serving “several months” while the women – 19, and 20-years old at the time – were given life sentences.
The Scotts have been in prison for the last 17 years.
In the nearly two decades that the women have been incarcerated, well-wishers and supporters have written letters to the parole board in their support.
A rally was held Wednesday in an attempt to convince Mississippi’s sitting governor that the women deserve another chance, citing the time they are serving being much too harsh for their involvement in the crime.
Especially since the woman had no police record prior to the incident.
On Wednesday, nearly 200 protesters including Representatives of the Mississippi ACLU, civil rights veterans and several other groups marched to the governor’s mansion and the Mississippi Capitol to call for the release of two sisters. Ben Jealous, head of the NAACP had this to say,
“We’re looking for the governor to be a humane person in the situation. It is a hideous event in the history of Mississippi.”
Haley Barbour’s office has said the governor is waiting to receive a recommendation from the state Parole Board before making a decision.
This is not the sister’s first attempt at a pardon. The first pardon request was made to then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove, a Democrat, shortly after the sisters were sentenced.
The Mississippi Supreme Court refused to hear their appeal in 1997.
