Sisters' Parole Linked to Kidney Donation. Eerie.

[sixmile]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-12091722

'Two US women convicted of armed robbery can be released but only if one donates a kidney to the other, the governor of Mississippi has said.

Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted in 1994 of taking part in a robbery that netted a mere $11 (£7).

Their lawyer, Chokwe Lumumba, hailed Governor Haley Barbour's decision as a victory.

The sisters were eligible for parole in 2014 and rights activists had criticised their sentence as harsh.

Jamie, 38, who requires daily dialysis, and Gladys, 36, are serving life sentences for leading two men into an ambush in Mississippi in 1993.

During the robbery, three teenagers struck each man on the head with a shotgun before taking their wallets, according to court documents.

Financial burden
Mr Barbour said prison officials no longer think the sisters, who are eligible for parole in 2014, are a threat to society.

He added that Mississippi bore the cost of treating Jamie's medical condition each year she was in prison.

Mr Barbour, a Republican, has agreed the indefinite suspension of their sentences, which can be reversed if terms are broken.

"I think it's a victory. I talked to Gladys and she's elated about the news. I'm sure Jamie is, too," Mr Lumumba told the Associated Press news agency.

Mr Lumumba said Gladys had volunteered the kidney donation.

Hundreds of protesters marched through the Mississippi capital of Jackson in September, calling for the release of the women.

It is unclear when the two prisoners would be freed if the kidney transplant moves forward.'

[godai]

1. You can't require a kidney donation.

This is so unethical, it boggles my mind. Twisted logic of RW inbeciles.

[hlthe2b]

2. The issue of cost motivating this release...

They should have been released a very long time ago as their sentencing was clearly excessive. I am glad this is working out for these sisters, even as I find it a miscarriage of justice that only this unfortunate happenstance (and Barbour's need to cut medical costs at the state prison) is correcting.

But the piece of this story that horrifies me the most is to think that while I am glad that the sister will get the transplant, her care has been paid by the state while in prison and the cost of the transplant will obviously have to come from medicaid, unless they have received some donation or have family wealth that is not clear from this story.

Now, think about the average American, who can not qualify for medicaid, but is uninsured. Perhaps they had a pre-existing condition and can't afford insurance or they have had current or intermittent unemployment. There are millions of Americans like them. Who would pay for their diagnosis and care? Who would pay for their transplant. So, by virtue of the fact that they had NOT been in prison, millions of Americans in a similar situation would ... simply... be allowed to die? But, for the grace of God or Fate or ?? go any of us.

That is what leaves me devastated....

[sixmile]

3. That's why I qualified it with the word "Eerie'...

It's like looking into a not-too-distant Dystopian future.

[hlthe2b]

6. Actually we had an earlier post on this...

in which the OP was singing the accolades of Barbour for his "compassion." I'm always amazed when our own can not see through the motivations of RETHUGLICANS....:shrug:

[Ghost in the Machine]

4. Yeah, that damned SOCIALIST Haley Barbour, wanting ALL the taxpayers to cover the expense

instead of just the state of Mississippi... damned SOCIALIST!!!

[nofurylike]

5. please find out more about this case. many have worked

continually for their release, and they succeeded. including the NAACP and many many others.
one reason for upping the pressure on the governor was that Jamie's need had grown so urgent, and her sister had already decided to donate her kidney.

the increasing pressure - including in the form of recent MSM converage of the horror of the case - is why they are finally being released. the state and rightist media are putting it the way you have only to appease those who would leave the Scott sisters in prison for their entire atrocious sentences - so the governor doesn't look "weak on crime," as the repuke meme goes.

thank you.

[bullwinkle428]

7. I haven't the slightest doubt that Barbour is doing it NOW for nothing

more than calculating, cynical, and manipulative political reasons. He probably wouldn't have been even willing to touch the case if he didn't plan to run for President, but is now in serious need of some good karma, on the heels of revelations concerning his "Citizen's Council" comments.

Totally agree that the sentence was ridiculously harsh and punitive in the first place, and having spent some time in Jackson, MS, am certain that racism played a role in the sentencing.

[gratuitous]

8. Life sentences for an $11 robbery

But I'm quite confident that the fact these two women are melatonin-gifted had nothing to do with such a harsh sentence. Just like it has nothing to do with Barbour's sudden concern for them right after putting both feet in his mouth a couple of weeks ago with his comments about the white citizens' councils. And there's absolutely nothing here that looks like Barbour's trying to re-form his image as he contemplates a presidential run in 2012, so stop saying that!

[sixmile]

9. I agree with your Barbour assumptions, but not necessarily

the question of sentencing for what was a brutal armed robbery.
Having not being on the jury or privy to the evidence I will withhold my opinions and merely point back to the original post as being an eerie precedent.