Nina Simone called it way back in 1964 with her unflinching civil rights anthem, Mississippi Goddam. Apparently, not much has changed since. Today, almost 50 years later, Jamie and Gladys Scott sit in a Mississippi prison, sentenced to double consecutive life sentences for a crime they have steadfastly denied committing. Neither had any previous criminal record.
And what was the alleged crime? Robbery. Was it a violent offense? No. How much was taken? Eleven dollars. (That’s right, $11!) When and where did this happen? In 1993, outside Forest, Mississippi.
On what basis were they convicted? Two of the three teenagers who actually committed the robbery testified that the sisters were involved in the robbery, claiming that they lured the two men to the scene, where they were robbed, after which the women left with the robbing victims. The two teens, who the Scotts knew beforehand, copped a plea–implicating the Scotts–and were released after two years in prison. One of the young men has since recanted his testimony.
As hard as they are to believe, these are the facts of this case.
The two sisters, 21 and 19 at the time of the incident, have been in the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility for 16 years. In addition to losing her vision, 38 year-old Jamie has suffered renal failure and receives dialysis three times weekly. All requests to have her moved to a private hospital for life-sparing treatment have allegedly been denied. Reportedly, the state’s Department of Corrections will not even allow for compatibility testing for a kidney transplant, without which Jamie Scott will die.
I tell you, this thing has Jim Crow written all over it!
That is why there should be millions of signatures demanding the release of the Scott Sisters. The mainstream media–cable news in particular–with its penchant for blanket coverage, should be putting Governor Haley Barbour on blast, on the half-hour. And he should be subjected to questions about the Scott Sisters during any and all media appearances.
To build a critical mass, all civil rights organizations, including the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), should take to the streets, marching and sitting-in, as they did in the 60s. Governor Barbour–who is also Chairman of the Republican Governors Association (RGA) and is considering running for president in 2012–should not be able to go anywhere without seeing picketers.
To date, not even the Reverend Al Sharpton’s National Action Network has issued any statements or taken any action on behalf of the Scott Sisters. This is surprising since this seems like a case tailor-made for Mr. Sharpton, with his mega bully pulpit. Certainly, it would have been for the pre-Obama Sharpton.
And speaking of President Obama, he and his Justice Department, led by Attorney General Eric Holder, should become involved in this case. Although technically, presidential pardons are limited to federal cases, were the President of the United States (POTUS) to even mention this case, it would become an international story, right then and there. As well it should be.
Really, guilt or innocence aside, a double life sentence is just flat-out excessive. As Herbert writes in “So Utterly Inhumane,” “This is a case that should be repugnant to anyone with the slightest interest in justice.”
And so far, it seems safe to assume that Governor Haley Barbour is not one of these people. Indeed, if his actions so far are any indication, he could not care less. It seems he is too busy exploring his options regarding a presidential bid in 2012.
When asked about his presidential ambitions after the GOP’s sweeping wins in the midterm elections, Barbour had this to say on CNN, his southern accent as thick as Tupelo honey: “I’m gonna sit down after tomorrow and see if there’s anything to think about. But I don’t feel any time pressure over the next few weeks or months.”
Apparently, Barbour is not feeling any “time pressure” about the life of Jamie Scott or any shame about the draconian nature of consecutive life sentences in this case. This in spite of the fact that in 2008, according to several media reports, including in the New York Times, Barbour pardoned five brutal killers, in five separate cases. Yet he is allowing these two women to continue to sit in prison over $11?!
This is why it is so important that people, of all races, who believe in freedom and equal treatment under the law sign the petition calling for Haley Barbour to act…or the Justice Department…or President Obama. Someone needs to right this wrong. Now.
In the words of the inimitable Nina Simone, “…Just try to do your very best/Stand up be counted with all the rest/For everybody knows about Mississippi Goddam…”
(This article is updated from an earlier version of this story on Diverse: Issues in Higher Education.)
Dr. Pamela D. Reed is a diversity consultant, cultural critic, and assistant professor of English and African-American literature at Virginia State University
