Friends of Justice Special Report: Governor Barbour Suspends Scott Sisters Sentences

Dr. Alan Bean of the Friends of Justice reports that Governor Hailey Barbour has suspended the sentences of Gladys and Jamie Scott.

As the announcement appears below indicates, this was a political compromise. According to the governor's announcement, "The Mississippi Parole Board reviewed the sisters' request for a pardon and recommended that I neither pardon them, nor commute their sentence." If no one in the wider world was paying attention, this would have been the end of the matter. But thanks to Nancy Lockhart, the civil rights community is well aware of this egregious case and, with Mr. Barbour already on the hot seat for his racial tin ear he had good reason to look for a third way.

Like the vast majority of defendants, the Scott sisters can't prove their innocence. The case against them was badly over-prosecuted, state witnesses have complained of harassment, and the trial was a travesty. But even if you think Gladys and Jamie done the deed, it is difficult to justify a five-year sentence in a case like this let alone double-life. What kind of jury would hand down sentences appropriate to an abduction-torture-rape-murder scenario for an alleged crime netting $11?

Well, if the comments section in Mississippi newspapers is anything to go by, there are a lot of folks in Mississippi who are quite prepared to take an eye-for-an-ear-lobe for any sort of crime if the defendants are presented as stereotypical thugs. The response of the Mississippi Parole Board is disappointing, to say the least. A recommendation of pardon or commutation would have amounted to an admission of judicial over-kill. A mere suspension creates the impression that the Scott Sisters deserved every year of their sentences but the good governor has a compassionate heart.

I doubt Gladys and Jamie are particularly concerned about the legal niceties--they just want to breathe in the free world again. And soon they will! That is good news indeed.

Dec. 29, 2010

GOV. BARBOUR’S STATEMENT REGARDING RELEASE OF SCOTT SISTERS

"Today, I have issued two orders indefinitely suspending the sentences of Jamie and Gladys Scott. In 1994, a Scott County jury convicted the sisters of armed robbery and imposed two life sentences for the crime. Their convictions and their sentences were affirmed by the Mississippi Court of Appeals in 1996.

"To date, the sisters have served 16 years of their sentences and are eligible for parole in 2014. Jamie Scott requires regular dialysis, and her sister has offered to donate one of her kidneys to her. The Mississippi Department of Corrections believes the sisters no longer pose a threat to society. Their incarceration is no longer necessary for public safety or rehabilitation, and Jamie Scott's medical condition creates a substantial cost to the State of Mississippi.

"The Mississippi Parole Board reviewed the sisters' request for a pardon and recommended that I neither pardon them, nor commute their sentence. At my request, the Parole Board subsequently reviewed whether the sisters should be granted an indefinite suspension of sentence, which is tantamount to parole, and have concurred with my decision to suspend their sentences indefinitely.

"Gladys Scott's release is conditioned on her donating one of her kidneys to her sister, a procedure which should be scheduled with urgency. The release date for Jamie and Gladys Scott is a matter for the Department of Corrections.

"I would like to thank Representative George Flaggs, Senator John Horne, Senator Willie Simmons, and Representative Credell Calhoun for their leadership on this issue. These legislators, along with former Mayor Charles Evers, have been in regular contact with me and my staff while the sisters' petition has been under review."

Link to Friends of Justice News Feed -- http://feeds.feedburner.com/FriendsOfJustice

From the Land of Emmett Till: New York Times Op-Ed Columnist Asserts Gov. Haley Barbour Could Free Mississippi Scott Sisterrs

NEW YORK TIMES OP-ED COLUMNIST BOB HERBERT WRITES TODAY THAT
Gov. Haley Barbour of Mississippi has to decide whether to show mercy to two sisters, Jamie and Gladys Scott, who are each serving double consecutive life sentences in state prison for a robbery in which no one was injured and only $11 was taken.

“This should be an easy call for a law-and-order governor who has, nevertheless, displayed a willingness to set free individuals convicted of far more serious crimes. Mr. Barbour has already pardoned four killers and suspended the life sentence of a fifth,” Herbert writes.

The Scott sisters, African Americans have been in prison for 16 years. Jamie, now 38, is seriously ill. Both of her kidneys have failed. "Keeping the two of them locked up any longer is unconscionable, grotesquely inhumane," Herbert writes.

The sisters were accused of luring two men to a spot outside the rural town of Forest, Miss., in 1993, where the men were robbed by three teenagers, one of whom had a shotgun. The Scott sisters knew the teens. The evidence of the sisters’ involvement has always been ambiguous, at best. The teenagers pleaded guilty to the crime, served two years in prison and were released. All were obliged by the authorities, as part of their plea deals, to implicate the sisters.

No explanation has ever emerged as to why Jamie and Gladys Scott were treated so severely. Persons close to the family have said this resulted from an ongoing fight between their father and the county sheriff, however.

In contrast, Governor Barbour has been quite willing to hand get-out-of-jail-free cards to men who unquestionably committed shockingly brutal crimes. The Jackson Free Press, an alternative weekly, and Slate Magazine have catalogued these interventions by Mr. Barbour.

"Some Mississippi observers have characterized the governor’s moves as acts of mercy; others have called them dangerous abuses of executive power."

The Mississippi Department of Corrections confirmed Governor Barbour’s role in the five cases, noting that the specific orders were signed July 16, 2008:

• Bobby Hays Clark was pardoned by the governor. He was serving a long sentence for manslaughter and aggravated assault, having shot and killed a former girlfriend and badly beaten her boyfriend.

• Michael David Graham had his life sentence for murder suspended by Governor Barbour. Graham had stalked his ex-wife, Adrienne Klasky, for years before shooting her to death as she waited for a traffic light in downtown Pascagoula.

• Clarence Jones was pardoned by the governor. He had murdered his former girlfriend in 1992, stabbing her 22 times. He had already had his life sentence suspended by a previous governor, Ronnie Musgrove.

• Paul Joseph Warnock was pardoned by Governor Barbour. He was serving life for the murder of his girlfriend in 1989. According to Slate, Warnock shot his girlfriend in the back of the head while she was sleeping.

• William James Kimble was pardoned by Governor Barbour. He was serving life for the murder and robbery of an elderly man in 1991.

More at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/10/16/opinion/16herbert.html?_r=1&ref=opinion

Mississippi Scott Sisters Emergency; Jamie Scott in Crisis, Says Long-time Supporter

Nancy LockhartAugust 23, 2010 at 9:09am
Subject: Urgent ~ Please E-mail and Call For Jamie Scott ~ Once Again Jamie Needs Hospitalization

(This email just arrived from Nancy Lockhart. Remember these women when Haley Barbour announces his run for the presidency. Susan Klopfer, publisher)

Dear Supporters:

Jamie was hospitalized this weekend but, is now in the prison infirmary. The hospital scheduled surgery for her this morning at 8:30am to unclog the fistula in her arm which is used for dialysis treatments. Jamie was not taken back to the hospital for this surgery.

Please write Dr. Gloria Perry, cc Christopher Epps and Margaret Binghman. Flood their offices with e-mails and ask them to have this surgical procedure done immediately at the hospital. Your e-mails and phone calls have saved Jamie's life in the past and will continue to do so. Let these officials know that Jamie needs to be in a hospital NOW!

Dr. Gloria Perry - gperry@mdoc.http://www.facebook.com/l/80563ZFHpwgTcx4oid9jqDgDhGQ;state.ms.us
Margaret Bingham - mbingham@mdoc.http://www.facebook.com/l/80563ZFHpwgTcx4oid9jqDgDhGQ;state.ms.us
Christopher Epps - CEPPS@mdoc.http://www.facebook.com/l/80563ZFHpwgTcx4oid9jqDgDhGQ;state.ms.us

You may also call.- Dr. Gloria Perry - (601) 359-5155
Margaret Bingham- 601-932-2880
Christopher Epps - 601-359-5600

Thank you,

Nancy Lockhart, M.J.

Mississippi Scott Sisters Documentary Now In Production

News Release from Nancy Lockhart
Subject: July 4th 2010 - Jamie Scott's Birthday - Documentary of The Scott Sisters and Thank You's

Dear Supporters:

Jamie and Gladys would like to thank all supporters for everything that is being done to assist in securing their freedom. They would especially like to thank The Gray Haired Witnesses for the most recent Washington, DC event.

Jamie sends a special thank you to everyone for contacting the Health Department regarding conditions at MDOC's- Quickbed Unit which is where she and many other inmates are housed. She has said that the prison made noticeable improvements and are continuing to do so. Many other inmates have also expressed their thanks to everyone who called and wrote the Mississippi Health Department. The Health Department did visit the prison and it has made a great difference in the lives of inmates.

Mrs. Rasco said that Jamie has broken out in boils again. The medical clinic has given her antibiotics and hopefully this will clear her condition. Although Jamie is sick; she is in very high spirits because of the improved living conditions. I would personally like to thank Ms. Gloretha Darlene Pinckney-Gray for sharing the idea of contacting OSHA and the Health Department. Ms. Gray - you have made a difference in many lives there at MDOC - Quick Bed. We thank you!

Jamie's Birthday is on July 16th and she would very much appreciate receiving cards and letters from supporters. Please write to Jamie Scott at the following address:
Jamie Scott # 19197
CMCF/2A-B-Zone
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8850

Anyone who wishes to send funds directly to Jamie for her commissary privileges may do so by following instructions provided via this link.
http://www.facebook.com/l/e2562k4JxBBnwJ_upwwubxSISMw;www.mdoc.state.ms.us/Sending%20Money.htm

Free The Scott Sisters T-Shirts are available and may be purchased via the link below. Thank you to Paul Lefrak for organizing this and to Jack and Mike for picking up the torch! Please order your shirts, wear them and assist us in spreading the word.
http://www.facebook.com/l/e2562zJyAar_WkJeTgARchD8K_w;www.radicaljack.com/scsit.html

Last but not least, a documentary is now being produced of The Scott Sisters, their family and this tragic case. The producer and his team are working around the clock to meet deadlines and ensure that all bases are covered. This documentary should be released in a few months!

In Solidarity,

Nancy R. Lockhart, M.J.

Day 9 of the Curtis Flowers Murder Trial; Defense Begins Its Case

Dr. Alan Bean, a forensic historian, is covering the trial of Curtis Flowers in Winona, Mississippi. Flowers, an African American, is on trial for the sixth time on the same murder charges -- setting a judicial record. The following comes from Bean, this morning:

On Tuesday morning, the Winona perjury parade ground to a halt. Bonita Henry is one of several witnesses in this legal marathon who are [no]longer capable of testifying. She appeared courtesy of a brief excerpt from the 2004 trial transcript.

Tardy Furniture store in Winona, Mississippi

Ms. Henry said she was sitting on her porch between 9:00 and 9:30 on the morning of the murders when she saw Curtis Flowers walk by. He was wearing white shorts and a T-shirt.

I was hoping the defense attorney in the transcript would ask if Curtis had a .380 automatic stuck inside the elastic waist band of his shorts–but the question never came.

Curiously, neither the state nor the defense asked if the witness remembered seeing Mary Jeanette Fleming heading west while Curtis was walking east. A couple of days ago, Ms. Fleming testified that Curtis passed her just a few seconds after he passed Ms. Henry, only this time he was wearing a pair of black dress pants, a dress shirt and a jacket.

Continue here -- (and please consider contributing to Friends of Justice to help pay Dr. Bean's expenses. Because of his work, several major media organizations have written about this travisty).

Day 8, Curtis Flowers Mississippi Murder Trial; Smoke and Fog...

Dr. Alan Bean, forensic historian, is covering this historical murder trial in Winona, Mississippi. Here is his report on Day Eight:

“Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” The prosecution of Curtis Flowers rests on this bit of folk wisdom. Curtis told investigators he never strayed onto the east side of Highway 51 on the morning in 1996 when four innocent people were murdered execution-style at the Tardy furniture store. One witness seeing Curtis Flowers on the east side of the highway might be mistaken, but the state has half- a-dozen witnesses making this claim.

With that much smoke there must be a fire some place. Right?

Or are we all being duped by an elaborate fog machine?

Strip the eye-witness testimony from this case and nothing remains but junk science.

There’s the bloody footprint. The Mississippi Crime Lab has shown that the print was made by a size 10-11 Grant Hill Fila running shoe. An empty shoe box for a pair of 10.5 Grant Hill Filas was found in a chest of drawers owned by Connie Moore, Curtis Flowers’ live-in girlfriend.

Connie Moore says the shoe box is from a pair of Filas she purchased for her son Marcus. Marcus confirms this testimony.

Smoke or fog?

The problem pile grows. The pool of blood grew gradually in the half hour between the murders and the arrival of Sam Jones (the first man to witness the crime scene). Moments after the killing there would have been little blood to step in.

Sam Jones has testified that the print wasn’t there when he arrived at the Tardy furniture store.

An older white witness named Porky Collins claims to have seen two black men walking toward Tardys at around 10:00, a moment or two after Sam Jones ran off to report the crime.

Grant Hill Filas were a marketing sensation in the summer of 1996, with over 600,000 pair in the size 10-11 range purchased nationally. Every young man in Winona who could make the $100 price tag owned a pair.

Smoke or fog?

Then we have the single particle of gunshot residue found on the web of the defendant’s right hand. Doug Evans has a little mantra: particles of lead, barium and antimony (with a unique spherical morphology) can only be produced by the discharge of a firearm.

Does this mean Curtis Flowers fired a gun on the morning of July 16, 1996? The jury may be thinking along these lines, but claims from expert witnesses are more modest. A single particle of residue (and an unusually tiny particle at that) can easily be picked up by casual contact, especially if you are in a highly contaminated environment. Curtis Flowers was picked up by two officers, taken to the police station in a police car, and was questioned at the police station. Studies have shown that gunshot residue is ubiquitous in all these environments.

Smoke of fog?

The residue evidence in the Flowers case is meaningless. Judge Joey Loper was asked to restrict testimony on the residue issue but ruled for the state (his standard practice).

A crime this horrific inspires sympathy for the victims and a deep craving for justice, but junk science alone falls short of a conviction.

Enter the witnesses.

For the past few days we have witnessed a parade of sad, compromised black people testifying that, fourteen years ago, they saw Curtis Flowers walking in the direction of the Angelica garment factory, hanging around the Angelica parking lot, returning home, heading downtown, walking in the direction of the furniture store, arguing with an unidentified stranger on the Boulevard in front of Tardys, and running from the scene of the crime.

Smoke or fog?

One or two of these people may come off as a bit addled, but you still have six or seven fingers pointing at Mr. Flowers.

In fact, so many people claim to have seen the defendant doing so many things, at so many times, and in so many places that even the prosecutor and defense counsel have a hard time keeping all the details straight.

Who are these people, and why do they keep repeating the same tortured testimony year-after-year?

There’s Patricia Hollman, the woman who saw Curtis Flowers heading north to get to a southern destination. Elaine Ghoulston, the sharp-eyed neighbor who detected a pair of Grant Hill Fila running shoes at a distance 200 feet (I paced it off yesterday morning).


There’s Katherine Snow who first said she saw a five-foot-six stranger with a cap leaning against a car in the Angelica parking lot and then, a month later, remembered that she had really seen a five-foot-ten, hatless, Curtis Flowers.

There’s Jeanette Fleming who waited seven months to report meeting a flirtatious Curtis Flowers (“Hi, good-looking!”). Fleming was working at McDonald’s when officers spirited her off to the police station for a little tete-a-tete. She has no idea how they got her name.

There’s Charles “Porky” Collins, the man who, in a single eventful morning witnessed (a) Carmen Rigby entering Tardy Furniture for the last time, (b) Curtis Flowers arguing with an unnamed buddy in front of the store, and (c) Doyle Simpson reporting his gun stolen. In the midst of all this activity, Collins made three failed attempts to visit a dry cleaning establishment.

There’s Odell Hallomon who claims an extreme addiction to cigarettes drove him to accuse his loving sister of perjury. In the second trial, Hallomon testified that he and Patricia Hallomon cooked up a story about Curtis Flowers to get their hands on the $30,000 reward. In a letter to Curtis’ mother, Odell said he knew his family would reject him for telling the truth, but he was determined to do the right thing.

“When I got out of prison, my momma was on me everyday,” Odell explained today. After a few weeks of constant harassment from his mother and sister, he got on the phone and told Doug Evans he was going to change his story.

Mr. Evans has done his best to harmonize this flurry of testimony, but serious problems remain. Jeanette Fleming saw Curtis a block from Tardys at 9:00 am and Clemmie Fleming saw him running away from the furniture store 60 minutes later. Would a murder spend a full hour at the crime scene? What did he do, and where did he go between 9:40 (when the bodies were first discovered) and 10:00 when Clemmie saw him leaving the scene?

While Clemmie saw Curtis fleeing the scene, Porky Collins saw him engaged in a vigorous argument on the boulevard.

Police initially had two suspects: Doyle Simpson and Curtis Flowers. Shortly after Porky reported his strange tale to the police, Doyle had been eliminated as a suspect. This made the second man (and his two-tone, dusty, brown Pontiac) superfluous, but the report could not be altered. Doug Evans copes by pretending that Porky never mentioned a second man.

If Curtis had access to a vehicle, why did he leave on foot?

And why is there no overlap in the way the various witnesses describe the defendant’s physical appearance? They have him wearing shorts, “windpants”, dress pants (of various colors), T-shirts (in a rainbow of colors and several designs), a hat, a shaved head, short hair, and, remarkably, a jacket–this on a scorching Mississippi summer’s day.

The problems with the eyewitness testimony are too numerous for a single post, but you get the idea.

Is the state’s case generating smoke or is that a fog of confusion settling over the courtroom.

And why would any self-respecting prosecutor allow himself to be associated with witnesses this unconvincing? Doug Evans created these witnesses. They are his puppets. They twirl and sing at his command. Sure, you can win convictions by sponsoring perjury, but have you no pride man? Is this the legacy you had in mind when you left law school?

Why did all these people, over a period of nine months, agree to sign Curtis Flowers’ death warrant? Was it greed, fear, a desire to be left alone, or a combination of all these factors?

At the end of Clemmie Fleming’s testimony on Monday, defense attorney Ray Carter asked her why it took nine long months for her to turn on Curtis Flowers.

“They told me there was a baby in it?” the dead-pan witness responded.

“A baby?” Carter said.

Clemmie explained that the 16 year-old Bobo Stewart, one of the victims, was just like a baby in her eyes (she was 21 at the time). Outraged by this new information, she broke her silence.

Carter asked one final question. “You don’t believe that Curtis Flowers killed those people at Tardys, do you Clemmie?”

“No, sir,” she replied softly.

So let’s get this straight. Outraged by the death of an innocent adolescent, Clemmie decided to implicate an innocent man.

Ponder that, dear reader, and you’ll know why Friends of Justice is in Winona.

The tension at the courthouse deepens by the day. One observer described a brief encounter with an indignant woman. “Are you with the Friends of Justice?” she asked.

“No,” he replied, “I’m from Greenwood.”

The woman softened instantly. “Oh, then I’m sorry for glaring at you,” she said.

By now, everybody on the white side of the room knows who I am and they’re all glaring (yes, I notice). I was standing outside the courthouse, fumbling with my Blackberry, when I glimpsed a middle-aged gentleman glanced in my direction.

“By the way,” he said, “I find you disgusting.”

“Thank you, sir,” I replied in the calmest voice I could muster.

“You’re welcome,” he snarled.

Friends of Justice

Gray-Haired Witnesses Update: Washington D.C. Event, June 21; Scott Sisters of Mississippi Top Item

Subject: SOLIDARITY/PARKING +MORE FOR 6/21 GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES FAST FOR JUSTICE!
SUPPORT THE GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES FAST FOR JUSTICE!
JUNE 21, 2010 -- WASHINGTON, DC
10 AM - DEPT. OF JUSTICE
12 NOON - WHITE HOUSE PRESS CONFERENCE
1PM-9PM - LAFAYETTE SQUARE PARK

We need your support in bringing national attention to the case of the Scott Sisters and all other women who have been incarcerated wrongly and egregiously over-sentenced, punishing and destroying our families and children, please plan to participate!
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PARKING FOR CARS/BUSES:

Thanks so much to Julie Turner for all of her help in organizing support in solidarity with the Gray-Haired Witnesses!

The New York Avenue Presbyterian Church has confirmed the Radcliffe Room for press conference/rally attendees on Monday, June 21, 2010 to rest, use the bathroom and get situated. The times we may use the room are from 8:30a until 9:45 and 11:45a until 1:00. The Church will close at 3 on Monday, but this will give everyone enough time to sort things out. The church is at 1313 New York Ave, NW—2 blocks from the White House and Lafayette Square Park.

Directions to Dept. of Justice from the New York Ave. Presbyterian Church: Come out of the building at 1313 New York Avenue, NW and turn left, cross the street at corner of the church,---you will be in front of the Inter American Bank—which is now H St, NW. Stay on H, cross at 13th, and count the numbers down to 9th—turn right on 9th, now count down the letters until you reach Pennsylvania Ave., NW –the address is 950 Pennsylvania. It’s about 10 city blocks.

There is a public parking lot located 4 blocks from the church and 4 blocks from the Department of Justice. It’s the best deal in town—most other parking is in garages that will not fit a bus. This is the contact information: City Center Parking operated by U Street Parking - 900 9th St., NW—the entrance is on 9th St, which is one way. Cars can park all day for $20 and buses can park all day for $35. Come down H St, NW to 10th, turn right on 10th go up 1 block, turn right, and then right again on 9th—the entrance is mid block on the right. Buses park to the far right of the lot. The telephone number is 202 265-0010.
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IN SOLIDARITY:

The California Coalition for Women Prisoners expresses our strong solidarity with the courageous fast by the Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice to demand freedom for the Scott Sisters and an inspection of the prison where Jamie Scott is being held. In California, we witness similar inhuman conditions for women in prison on a daily basis, and we condemn the systemic racism and sexism which has caused the population of women in prison to triple in the past twenty-five years. Jamie and Gladys are serving outrageous life sentences which in Jamie’s case could well turn into a death sentence if the criminal health care conditions she is enduring aren’t quickly improved. We deeply appreciate your determination to stand up and expose the grave injustice being perpetrated against the Scott sisters and the tens of thousands of other sisters who are wrongly incarcerated across the United States. -- Diana Block, Founding Member
---

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children endorses the June 21, 2010 Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice in DC and your mission to free the Scott sisters. LSPC is a non-profit organization based in San Francisco, California, with a 32 year history of advocating for the rights of prisoners, formerly incarcerated persons, and their families. We know that the unique situation of incarcerated women is often overlooked. Prison medical care is notoriously inadequate. Sentences are too long. Justice is often not served in our criminal courts. We support your efforts to free the Scott sisters and call on the Obama administration to help justice be served here. -- Carol Strickman, Staff Attorney
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Thank you Bro. Rudolph Lewis of ChickenBones for sharing this critical information on your illustrious pages: http://www.facebook.com/l/718f7;www.nathanielturner.com/freescottsisters.htm

Thank you also to Rev. Kenneth Glasgow and T.O.P.S. (THE ORDINARY PEOPLE SOCIETY) for writing and sending out a press release in support of this effort. Website: www. http://www.facebook.com/l/718f7;www.wearetops.org

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ENDORSEMENT LIST IN FORMATION (CLOSES JUNE 15!)

Action Committee for Women in Prison
Agnes Johnson, The 1212 Community in the Bronx
Ahmad Abdulibad, Minister~General, Sons Of Afrika
Bonnie Kerness, AFSC*
Brenda Scott Lowery
Bro. Moorbey, Chairman, Black Unity Movement
Bro. Sauti & Sis. Shiriki, http://www.facebook.com/l/718f7;KCBLR.ORG Radio
California Coalition for Women Prisoners
Charles E. Campbell, Allen Hydro Energy Corporation (AHEC)
Cleo Silvers
David Blanchard
Dick Gregory - Human Rights Activist
Dominique Reed, HRC-Fed Up!
Donna Wallach, Justice for Palestinians
Earl Smith, Executive Director, Order of Kush International
Eddie Griffin (BASG)
Fayemi Shakur, Sundiata Acoli Freedom Campaign
Florence L. Tate
Harambee Radio and Television Network
Helen Raines Staley, Albany NY
Int'l Concerned Family/Friends of Mumia Abu-Jamal
Jacqui C. Williams
Julie Ann Turner
Kenneth King
Kermit Eady, Eady Associates
Leonna A. Brandao, S.W.III, New Vision Org., Inc.
Malaika H. Kambon, People's Eye Photography
Mary Ratcliff, Editor, San Francisco Bay View Newspaper
mesha Monge-Irizarry, Director, Education Not Incarceration, SF Chapter,
Idriss Stelley Foundation, + SF MOOC City Commissioner*
Michael Johnson/Black Student Union (Comm. College of Balt. County/Essex)
Michelle Alexander, Author, "The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness"
Mississippi Prison Watch
Monica Moorehead, Women's Fightback Network, NYC
Nancy Lockhart, M.J., Legal Analyst
Nathan Hare, Black Think Tank
Nkechi Taifa, Esq. - President, Legacy Justice Institute
People's Organization for Progress
Rev. Kenneth Glasgow, T.O.P.S.
Rev. Majadi Baruti, Udja Temple Ministries
Sam Jordan - Advocate for Justice and Prison Abolition
Senghor Jawara Baye, President General UNIA-ACL
Sistah Q, Author of Maintaining Our Temples
Sundiata Acoli
Tara Graham
Terry Howcott
The African American Freedom & Reconstruction League
The MOVE Organization
Trinita Simpson
4JusticeNow
(* For ID purposes only)
------------------

WE NEED YOUR SUPPORT, THERE IS SOMETHING THAT EVERYONE
CAN DO, NO ACTION IS TOO SMALL!

You can do this by some or all of the following:
- ATTEND THE JUNE 21ST PRESS CONFERENCE AND RALLY AND BRING OTHERS! We need your physical support!
- Post our press release and flyer to your FB and other social networking sites, forward it to your email colleagues and forward it to local and national print, radio and tv media.
Press release:

http://www.facebook.com/l/718f7;www.scribd.com/doc/31674423/grayhairpr -- Flyer: http://www.facebook.com/l/718f7;www.scribd.com/doc/32238758/New-Flyer

- Write a blog, article or commentary on our mission and call, post it and pass it on for posting on our website.
- Write and publish an article on the case of the Scott Sisters and the issue of Black incarceration. (Case Summary on the Scott Sisters is at http://www.facebook.com/l/718f7;freethescottsisters.blogspot.com/search/label/Case%20Summary)
- Volunteer to help us prepare for the day, particularly if you live in the DC, Balt., VA area, we need you however you are able!
- Please donate yourself on that day with your conscious and respectful entertainment performance!

URGENT NEEDS!!!

-- SOUND SYSTEM WITH GENERATOR AND RISER FOR USAGE AT LAFAYETTE SQUARE PARK FROM 12 NOON UNTIL 8:30 PM!
-- HELP TO SPONSOR THE BUS FROM MISSISSIPPI WHICH IS VERY MUCH NEEDED TO BRING MRS. RASCO, FAMILY AND MS SUPPORTERS TO DC AND IS VERY EXPENSIVE!
Please mail an M.O. for whatever you can spare (no amount is too small!) ASAP made out to Donnie Finley and mail to:
Donnie Finley c/o Gloria's Kitchen, 2855 Bailey Ave., Jackson, MS 39206. If you need more info please phone Donnie at: 601-454-6507. Thank you in advance for your kind support!

CONTACT US TODAY AND GET INVOLVED!

Contact us at ghwitnesses@gmail.com, 1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2, and please link to/follow us at

http://www.facebook.com/l/718f7;www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com/ and support!

The New Jim Crow' author Michelle Alexander Endorses Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice

Nancy LockhartJune 10, 2010 at 12:47pm
Subject: The New Jim Crow' author Michelle Alexander Endorses Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice
The New Jim Crow Author, MICHELLE ALEXANDER APPLAUDS THE WORK OF GRAY-HAIRED WITNESSES

P r e s s R e l e a s e

Contacts:

B.J. Janice Peak-Graham / Marpessa Kupendua

1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2

ghwitnesses@gmail.com

http://www.facebook.com/l/c870f;www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com/



WASHINGTON, June 9/Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice News – Author and legal scholar, Michelle Alexander, has taken time from her current national book tour to strongly endorse the June 21, 2010 Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice in DC and their mission in a statement to their web editor and founding member, Marpessa Kupendua. In her new book this brave and insightful legal scholar and civil rights advocate argues that although Jim Crow laws have been eliminated, the racial caste system it set up was not eradicated. It’s simply been redesigned, and now racial control functions through the criminal justice system. In her support of the Gray-haired Witnesses for Justice movement, Ms. Alexander wrote:

"With extraordinary vision and courage, and in the tradition of Ida B. Wells and countless other women who have stood for justice in the face of severe racial oppression, the Gray Haired Witnesses for Justice are calling attention to the harm caused by America's latest caste system: mass incarceration. Women of color are the fastest growing group of the prison population today and the Gray Haired Witnesses for Justice are shining a bright light on the racial bias and cruelty of our criminal justice system. All Americans who care about justice should join them in their campaign to free the Scott sisters, who have been sentenced to die in prison for an extremely minor, non-violent offense. “

In a February, 2010 article which appeared in the Huffington Post, she wrote, “ The clock has been turned back on racial progress in America, though scarcely anyone seems to notice. All eyes are fixed on people like Barack Obama and Oprah Winfrey who have defied the odds and achieved great power, wealth and fame.”

In referencing the focus of the Gray-Haired Witnesses on the case of the Scott Sisters, she had this to say, “The double life sentences imposed on the Scott sisters for an alleged robbery in Mississippi netting little more than $11 is a glaring example of a criminal justice system that is no longer much concerned with justice. No one was hurt or injured, and these women have no prior offenses. No other Western democracy subjects its own people to such draconian punishment for minor crimes. And no other country in the world incarcerates such a large percentage of its racial and ethnic minorities. This is Jim Crow justice, alive and well today. I urge all those of conscience to support the Scott sisters and the thousands of other prisoners who find themselves in similar shoes. Sadly, the Scott sisters are not alone. The Gray Haired Witnesses for Justice are standing up for all those suffering needlessly behind bars and we must join them. If we fail to act, history will judge us harshly."

Michelle Alexander is the author of "The New Jim Crow - Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness". Her book is taking the nation by storm, especially by major news analysts and commentators in examining issues of race bearing upon the era of the Obama administration. Ms. Alexander is a rising legal star who presents a bold and innovative argument that mass incarceration amounts to a devastating system of racial control.

On June 21, 2010, the Gray-Haired Witnesses will commence a Fast at the Department of Justice in a 10:00 a.m. formal appeal to Eric Holder, rejoin at the White House at Noon with a press conference and formal appeal to President Obama, and then continue at Lafayette Square Park from 1PM until 9PM for the duration of the fast with speakers, live performances and artists. They are calling on all people of good will to join them on that day and demand justice for the Scott Sisters and an end to the oversentencing, degradation and dehumanization of Black women in this system and nation as a whole.

Michelle Alexander is the author of The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness (The New Press, 2010). The former director of the Racial Justice Project of the ACLU in Northern California, she also served as a law clerk to Justice Harry Blackmun on the U.S. Supreme Court. Currently, she holds a joint appointment with the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity and the Moritz College of Law at Ohio State University.



###

Fear Stalks a Mississippi Town; Day One, The Trial of Curtis Flowers

Forensic historian Dr. Alan Bean files his first report from Winona, Mississippi where the murder trial of Curtis Flowers has opened:

You could feel the fear in the courthouse in the Montgomery County courthouse today.

The jury pool had already been cut from 600 to 156 when we arrived for day one of Curtis Flowers’ trial; by the end of the day only 76 jurors remained.

There were three categories of people in the room: the folks in category one were desperate to be on the jury; those in category two weren’t fussy about jury duty but were willing to serve if their number came up; category three people were desperate to get off the jury.

The eighty people eliminated from consideration today are all category three people. One woman said she couldn’t be objective because her elderly pastor might testify and she might give too much weight to his testimony.

Category one people had no such qualms. One man told the judge he was really close to three of the innocent victims murdered at the Tardy Furniture Store in 1996, but swore he could still be trusted to weigh the evidence fairly and objectively.

Judge Loper, as the law demands, took both jurors at their word.

Continued on the Friends of Justice website --

Civil Rights Activist Dick Gregory Urges Mass Support for the Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice

Contact: Nancy Lockhart
June 4, 2010 at 8:28am
Subject: DICK GREGORY Urges Mass Support for the Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice ~ By Sis. Marpessa

P r e s s R e l e a s e

Contacts: B.J. Janice Peak-Graham / Marpessa Kupendua 1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2 ghwitnesses@gmail.com http://www.facebook.com/l/787a2;www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com/

WASHINGTON, June 3/Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice News -- Fiery human rights activist, Dick Gregory, urged everyone to support the June 21, 2010 Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice in DC in an interview yesterday. The upcoming day-long event is to call attention to the shocking case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters, two women who each received double-life sentences for an alleged robbery of $11.00 almost 16 years ago. The public fast, press conference and rally also calls attention to the entire system of justice which increasingly incarcerates and oversentences non-violent Black female first time offenders, such as Jamie and Gladys Scott, punishing and many times actually destroying entire families.

"This is one of the worst cases I have ever heard of in my life," exclaimed Gregory, "My jaw dropped when I read that these women have been in prison for almost 16 years and aren't even charged with laying a hand on anyone! This country should be embarrassed to have such a blatant travesty of justice exist while wagging our finger at people abroad for human rights abuses. What we have going on here is the epitome of cruel and unusual punishment and is outrageous, even for Mississippi!".

The Gray-Haired Witnesses Fast for Justice was prompted by the very serious illness of now 38-yr. old Jamie Scott who entered prison in 1994 a healthy young woman yet suffered kidney failure this past January and was deprived adequate medical treatment for an extended period of time. Jamie has quickly declined to stage 5 (end stage) kidney disease and has suffered many life-threatening medical emergencies in an unclean environment.

Mr. Gregory was dumbfounded as to why MS Governor Haley Barbour has ignored all calls to pardon the women. "They went in at the ages of 19 and 22 with no prior criminal record, have consistently maintained their innocence, and even the testimony against them is documented as having been coerced! Even if they were guilty, we are talking about double-life sentences each, how does that make any kind of sense, don't their lives mean anything at all? If Gov. Barbour won't do the right thing then we need Eric Holder and President Obama to immediately step in! Washington, DC should be packed with people on June 21, demanding the immediate release of the Scott Sisters!".

On June 21, 2010, the Gray-Haired Witnesses will commence a Fast at the Department of Justice in a 10:00 a.m formal appeal to Eric Holder, rejoin at the White House at Noon with a press conference and formal appeal to President Obama, and then continue at Lafayette Square Park from 1PM until 9PM for the duration of the fast with speakers, live performances and artists. The Gray-Haired Witnesses are calling on all people of good will to join them on that day and demand justice for the Scott Sisters and an end to the oversentencing, degradation and dehumanization of Black women in this system and nation as a whole.

Gray-Haired Witnesses to Hold Fast Over Mississippi Scott Sisters

P r e s s R e l e a s e

Contacts:
B.J. Janice Peak-Graham / Marpessa Kupendua
1- 866-968-1188, Ext. 2
ghwitnesses@gmail.com
http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com/

Gray-Haired Witnesses to Hold Fast
Issues Challenge to America’s Conscience

WASHINGTON, May 20 /Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice News -- The Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice will undertake a fast and appear at the Department of Justice and the White House in Washington, DC on June 21, 2010, calling upon the nation to exercise an authentic system of justice in the case of Gladys and Jamie Scott and all other women who have been incarcerated wrongly and egregiously over-sentenced, punishing and destroying our families and children. Among their demands is freedom for the Scott Sisters and that an Inspection and Observation Team enter the Pearl, MS prison where Jamie Scott is being held.

This event was prompted by the serious illness of Jamie Scott and abysmal lack of competent medical care she has received in prison since both of her kidneys shut down this past January. Jamie has suffered so much maltreatment that she has quickly declined to stage 5 (end stage) kidney disease and has now effectively been sentenced to death. The Gray-Haired Witnesses are calling on all people of good will to fast in solidarity with them and to contact the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility and Dept. of Justice across the nation on that day.

The group issued the following statement about the fast in protest of continuing inhumane treatment and injustice in Americas courts and prisons:

"Over the last 20 years, the women’s population in US prisons has more than tripled. Most women are in prison as a result of drug selling, addiction, domestic violence and criminal acts mostly related to men. We also recognize the systemic racism that leads the police to even arrest the Black woman in the first place, the racism during sentencing, during incarceration, in dealing with social services, education, health discrimination, and beyond. We want to raise the political consciousness of the nation while standing as the moral soul of the nation. Many of us lived through segregation and worked to dismantle it through various movements for human dignity, equal rights and justice. We now see a coalition of corporate, cultural and political wars fully embracing a White supremacist culture of domination and terrorism. As part of this campaign they slander and dehumanize the entire Black community in the media and other public spaces.

This is perfectly illustrated by the case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys, whose almost 16 yrs of unjust incarceration is a shocking revelation of the pure nothingness with which our lives are deemed in the eyes of this society and world. In 1994, the State of Mississippi sentenced Jamie and Gladys Scott to consecutive double-life terms each for two counts of armed robbery they did not commit. They did not have prior criminal records, vigorously maintained their innocence, approximately $11 was said to have been netted, no one was harmed or injured and no weapon was ever recovered. Witnesses testified that they were coerced and threatened to lie on the Scott Sisters and their unbelievable convictions rest entirely on a combination of contradictory, coerced, and potentially perjured testimony by the victims and two other people charged with the crime who were offered lighter sentences for their cooperation. Even if the Scott Sisters were guilty of this crime, the sentence is absolutely unheard of and draconian, at best, and is cruel and unusual punishment without a doubt!

We come from a long line of women who refused to bend under the lash of chattel slavery from the time we were first dragged upon these shores until the 21st century slavery of today's prison industrial complex! We are the elder women, the daughters of the American slave system, Jim Crow oppression and the American Freedom Movement. We who are three strikes removed from the center of the power structure of this country. Our lives have prepared us to come to this place, at this time.”

The day-long event commences at the Department of Justice in a 10:00 a.m formal appeal to Eric Holder, rejoins at the White House at Noon in a formal appeal to President Obama, and then continues at Lafayette Square Park from Noon until 9PM for the duration of the fast with speakers, live performances and artists. All attendees are asked to bring non-perishable food items in honor of the fasting elders to be distributed to the Washington, DC community at the conclusion of the day.

# # #

Hunger Strike Set For June 21; Increased Women's Prison Population; Support For Scott Sisters, Mississippi

News Release
Nancy Lockhart May 14 at 2:53pm Reply
Contacts: Ruby Sales / B.J. Janice Peak-Graham
1-706-323-0246 /0247 - spirithousedc@gmail.com

The Gray-Haired Witnesses for Justice are conducting a Hunger Strike at the Department of Justice Headquarters in Washington, DC on June 21, 2010.

We, who are three strikes removed from the center of the power structure of this country, want to raise the political consciousness of the nation while standing as the moral soul of the nation. We are Gray-Haired Witnesses who have struggled from time immemorial within the Black community. We are building towards a movement in history and we need all people of good will to be a part!

When Ida B. Wells stood up, she set in motion a resistance movement where many Americans broke their silence against lynching and said NO. She stood for a race of people bereft of political power or resources. More than 100 years later Gray-Haired Witnesses, Black women with a new Freedom Movement calling on this nation, stand in the spirit of those proud men and women who won hard-fought for victories in struggle and blood. We speak to the totality of the struggle of the Black woman who is debased regularly as uneducated, immoral, subhuman, whore, bad mother, and welfare queen. We also recognize the systemic racism that leads the police to even arrest the Black woman in the first place, the racism during sentencing, during incarceration, in dealing with social services, education, health discrimination, and beyond.

Over the last 20 years, the women’s population in US prisons has more than tripled. Most women are in prison as a result of drug selling, addiction, domestic violence and criminal acts mostly related to men. Too many are victimized by biased and negligent lawyers and judges. The evidence of oppression against Black and poor women significantly increased and continues to mount. Our Sisters are victimized, and subsequently our families, by enormous health care disparities, and emotional degradation through corporate media demonization of our image and place in our community. We now see a coalition of corporate, cultural and political wars fully embracing a White supremacist culture of domination and terrorism.

Our primary focus is the case of the Mississippi Scott Sisters, Jamie and Gladys, whose almost 16 yrs of unjust incarceration is a shocking revelation of the pure nothingness with which our lives are deemed in the eyes of this society and world, where such egregious travesties of justice are heaped upon our women with hate-filled arrogance and in plain view! In 1994, the State of Mississippi sentenced Jamie and Gladys Scott to consecutive double-life terms each for two counts of armed robbery they did not commit. They did not have prior criminal records, vigorously maintained their innocence, approximately $11 was said to have been netted, no one was harmed or injured and no weapon was ever recovered.

In January, 2010, Jamie Scott suffered failure of both kidneys. The combination of absymal health care under deplorable conditions has culminated in her steep decline to stage 5 (end stage) kidney disease. Jamie Scott has now effectively been sentenced to death. We must address this specific issue with urgency and demand that an Inspection and Observation Team be allowed into the Pearl, MS prison where Jamie Scott is being held for independent evaluation, as well as call on this government to free Jamie and Gladys Scott, wrongfully convicted and with no business being incarcerated in the first place! The case of the Scott Sisters is a horrific representation of the cases of countless other Black and poor women who have been denied the benefits of true justice and been incarcerated wrongly and in the process punishing, injuring and destroying Black families and children across the nation.

The Gray-Haired Witness are calling on all people of good will to fast and strike and resist with us across the nation on this day. The greatest asset we have is our body, mind and spirit and our willingness to step out of the daily flow of life and stand tall for what is right and just. In the tradition of race women throughout history and our survival, we declare our presence and we will not be silent and we are not afraid. Our lives have prepared us to come to this place, at this time.

STAND WITH US IN WASHINGTON, DC AND HELP TO BUILD THIS EVENT.

WE ASK THAT YOU STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH US:

1. Organize attendees to come to the event on June 21.
2. Sign your organization/ club/church/ mosque/temple, etc. on in solidarity with the event.
3. Put a statement in support on your website and link to our blogspot. Send a mailing to your email list and memberships.
4. Assist in distributing literature for this event to build it to the maximum level.
5. Assist in garnering press now and at the event.
6. Organize a local fast where you are and send a press release to local news outlets about the hunger strike and your local support efforts.
7. Dress and wear buttons in solidarity with us on that day.
8. Assist with donations towards expenses earmarked "Gray-Haired Witnesses" at http://www.spiritho useproject. org/donation. cfm.

We call on our Sisters, our Brothers to join with us to demand what is right. We must speak loudly and clearly to the devaluation of Black women's bodies and lives. We want people of all colors to wage a struggle and stand with us on these issues because none of us are free until we are all free.

SHAKEERAH ABDUL AL-SABUUR, Paralegal
FATIRAH AZIZ, ICFFMAJ, African American Freedom & Reconstruction League, Quba Institute
MAE JACKSON, Art without Walls
MARPESSA KUPENDUA, M'Backe House of Hope, Inc.
DEBRA D. NAPIER, PhD.
BJ JANICE PEAK-GRAHAM, OUR COMMON GROUND Communications, Inc., Progressive Alternative Talk Radio
RUBY NELL SALES, Founder and Co-Director of SpiritHouse project - Public theologian, educator and long time runner for justice
JAMIA SHEPHERD, Founder/President of S.O.P.E. - Support Our People's Efforts

http://www.grayhairedwitnesses.blogspot.com
The SpiritHouse Project
100 6th Street
Columbus, GA 31901

Mississippi Scott Sisters Update: Fellow Prisoner Collapses, Dies: Had Just Questioned Her Medical Care

Jamie and Gladys Scott, Mississippi Inmates, $11 Robbery

(Ed. Note. Learn more about the Scott Sisters at the Mississippi Sovereignty Commission blog.)

Update From: nattyreb
Subject: [scottsistersupdates] !*CHECK IT: 5/5 SCOTT SISTERS UPDATE!
To: "Evelyn Rasco"
Date: Wednesday, May 5, 2010, 12:28 PM

Mrs. Rasco received word that last evening a 13 yr. friend of Jamie Scott's took a few steps toward her and fell down dead. The guards ran to her aid and tried CPR and everything that they could, but the woman had passed away. Jamie became hysterical,vomited blood and began losing breath. The guards there calmed Jamie, prayed with her, and stayed with her until her heart rate returned to normal.

This woman had issues with her medication and health care in the prison for years, and was just questioning her medication earlier that day. The consensus among the inmates was that this woman's death was just another example of the poor medical care in that hellhole.

The issue remains of Jamie vomiting blood, as well as reporting that there
are large, infected knots spread in various parts of her body which are painful and full of pus and blood. Jamie is terrified that she will be the next one to die and reports that her body is again full of infection. She has also been told that she has become anemic and that her blood sugars are only checked on a once weekly basis!

Please support by participating in two action requests!
--

1. ACTION

Jamie needs to be hospitalized and cleared of these infections! There also
needs to be a determination about the level of medical care she is receiving as it is apparent that she is not being monitored carefully as these infections continue to thrive and remain untreated until there is a demand from the outside.

Please contact these officials and let them know that Jamie Scott, #19197, needs to be hospitalized ASAP as she has infections throughout her body that need immediate treatment!

Attorney General Eric Holder
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20530-0001
HOTLINE: 202-353-1555
PHONE: 202-514-2000
202-307-6777 fax
AskDOJ@usdoj. gov

Dr. Gloria Perry, Medical Department (601) 359-5155
gperry@mdoc. state.ms. us

Christopher Epps
601-359-5600
CEPPS@mdoc.state. ms.us
723 North President Street
Jackson, MS 39202

Governor Haley Barbour
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150
Fax: 601-359-3741
(If you reach VM leave msgs, faxes, and please send letters)

============ ======

2. ACTION

Please e-mail, the following persons at The American Bar Association in support of the Scott Sisters. Please blind Copy (bcc) and paste in all e-mail addresses. A 1-800 number is also included below. Our goal here is to have thousands contact the ABA as there is power in numbers.

PilchenI@staff. abanet.org
KEnglehart@staff. abanet.org
CurdB@staff. abanet.org
windsorp@staff. abanet.org

American Bar Association
Attention: President Carolyn Lamm
321 N. Clark St.
Chicago, IL 60654-7598
800.285.2221

Dear President Lamm:

I would like to bring your attention to the Case of The Scott Sisters. In the state of Mississippi, Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted of armed robbery. A jury found the sisters guilty in 1994, transcripts conflictingly state that $11 dollars was netted. The sisters received double life sentences each for this crime, had no prior criminal records, and no one was injured in any way. A 14 year old testified that he was coerced and threatened to be sent to Parchman Penitentiary if he did not lie on the sisters by signing a statement. Other witnesses stated that the sisters were not involved in this crime. Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted with no physical evidence.

The sisters are in need of a pro bono criminal law attorney. Currently, an attorney is handling Jamie Scott’s medical issues as she has had kidney failure and is receiving sub standard medical care via the MDOC and Wexford Health Sources, Inc.. Jamie Scott is in stage 5 of kidney failure, which is the final stage.

I am requesting that you assist in securing a criminal attorney to review their prior appeals process and determine additional ways to re enter state or federal court. Above all, the sisters should be immediately exonerated.

Thank you for your attention in this matter.


Sincerely,


(Your name)


Case Summary: http://freethescott sisters.blogspot .com/search/ label/Case% 20Summary
Legal Transcripts: http://www.scribd. com/doc/21748820 /Scott-transcrip t

============

Jamie and Gladys want to thank all of the supporters so much for everything that's being done on their behalf,they are so happy to receive mail and to know that we are out here fighting for them and want to make sure that you know how grateful they are!

Gladys Scott, #19142
CMCF/B-Bldg.
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8550

Jamie Scott, #19197
CMCF/2A-B-Zone
P.O. Box 88550
Pearl, MS 39288-8550

Please help spread the word to the media, Mrs. Evelyn Rasco is available for interviews and can be reached at rqueenbee2222@yahoo.com. We need the Scott Sisters case to be known worldwide!

------------ ---
Visit and LINK to: http://www.freethes cottsisters. blogspot. com
Subscribe to our group: Send a blank e-mail to scottsistersupdates -subscribe@ yahoogroups. com and share information!
Facebook Group: Free The Scott Sisters
Facebook Fan Page: Free The Scott Sisters
Free the Scott Sisters Petition: http://www.ipetitio ns.com/petition/Free-Jamie- Gladys/index. html
Free the Scott Sisters Flyer: http://www.scribd.com/doc/28847395/Scott-Sisters- Flyer-Black- 23-Mar-2010- 20
Legal Transcripts: http://www.scribd.com/Scott%20Sisters

Scott Sisters Update; Jackson NAACP Honors Prison Warden (What??)

Nancy LockhartApril 25, 2010 at 7:59pm
Subject: 4/25 SCOTT SISTERS UPDATE ~ By Sister Marpessa
Greetings all,

Mrs. Rasco recently learned that Jamie's condition is unchanged and
that when last they spoke she was being worked up for a possible
urinary tract infection. She was mentally strong, however, and very
grateful that her mother and supporters are sticking by she and
Gladys through all that they have suffered.

MDOC Commissioner Christopher Epps, whom we've been contacting
for months regarding the disastrous level of Jamie's care and who's
been steadily misinforming people that she's not as sick as we've
regularly documented, even after she had to be hospitalized several
times for high toxicity and infections that almost took her life, is
being HONORED as the KEYNOTE SPEAKER by the Jackson
County, MS NAACP at their upcoming banquet on April 30, 2010!

Link: http://www.facebook.com/l/aadef;www.gulflive.com/sendthispage/sendthispage.ssf?http://blog.gulflive.com/mississippi-press-living/2010/04/christopher_epps_to_speak_at_freedom_fund_banquet.html

How could this branch, which is actually portrayed as an activist branch
that has courageously taken on the police dept. and most recently
the fire dept., completely ignore the sickeningly outrageous case of the Scott
Sisters! And to add insult to injury, laud Christopher Epps, who covers up the
low-budget, some-timey care that denies Jamie Scott regular medications,
regular dialysis, and the specific diet she has been told repeatedly that
she needs to maintain any semblance of health. The medical care is said
by inmates there to be abysmal on every level, and particularly so for Jamie
Scott, with end stage kidney failure!

This is a smack in the face to Mrs. Rasco, to whom Epps made false
promises of relief for Jamie, as well as Jamie and Gladys Scott, their
supporters, and the community at large! This organization should be fighting
on the front lines for justice for the Scott Sisters and not inviting Christopher
Epps to some banquet! And what of the national NAACP, why are they
NOT responding to the many requests that have been made of them for
the past 15 years to become involved in this case!

This is the final indignity and must not go unchallenged. This bureaucrat
should not pompously sit up there picking his teeth and pontificating
while Jamie Scott lay suffering in one of the very prison cells that he
oversees, a prison cell that she (nor her sister) should even be in!

Please contact the president of the Jackson County, Mississippi NAACP,
Curly Clark, and ask him:

* Why is the NAACP distinguishing a man who would allow a woman to
deteriorate in a prison on his watch until she is now at end stage of kidney
failure?

* Why does the NAACP want to hear from a man that won't permit this same,
very seriously ill woman to be housed in the Medical Bldg. on the grounds of
that facility so that she can be cared for by her sister and instead has
her housed in a mold-infested, damp, breeding ground for the infections
which have repeatedly threatened her life?

Ask Jackson County NAACP President, Curly Clark, and State President,
Derrick Johnson, why they are not involved in the fight for justice for the
Mississippi Scott Sisters, a shocking and internationally known atrocity
occurring right in their own backyard!

This entire event should be protested if Epps remains on the program
and attendees given refunds for their $30 tickets!

Curly Clark, President, Jackson County NAACP
228-762-9692

Derrick Johnson, State President
Mississippi State Conference NAACP
1072 West J.R. Lynch Street
Jackson, MS 39203
Phone: http://www.facebook.com/l/aadef;601.353.6906
Fax: http://www.facebook.com/l/aadef;601.353.1565
Website: http://www.facebook.com/l/aadef;www.naacpms.org

===================
Further comments from Nancy Lockhart:

"In Charleston South Carolina - A Supervisor of The Charleston Place Hotel - tied a hangman's noose and placed it on an elderly Black employee's neck - Gentleman contacted the NAACP - no assistance because Charleston Place Hotel Hosts the yearly fund raising breakfast free of charge for the NAACP every year - How Do I know? - I made the case public, I wrote the press release and conducted the press conference.
http://www.facebook.com/l/aadef;www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2008/02/08/afx4635027.html

I'm rather disturbed when individuals ask, have you contacted the NAACP, ACLU, SCLC, and blah, blah, blah. Hell yes they have been contacted, haven't just been rocking in a chair for the past 5 years 7 months with the Scott Sisters Case. Join the mass e-mail campaign to the NAACP in protest of EPPS being guest speaker at the freedom fund banquet!

See Free The Scott Sisters Group Page or, http://www.facebook.com/l/aadef;www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com

New Prison Study: Race and Racism Placed at Center of Why U.S. Imprisons So Many of Its Citizens

AlterNet / By Liliana Segura

Two criminologists have concluded, in a new study investigating public attitudes behind harsh sentencing, that the warehousing of African Americans and other minorities is no accident. Rather, "racial resentments are inextricably entwined in public punitiveness." In other words, racism and the rise of "tough on crime" policies go hand in hand.

James Unnever of the University of South Florida-Sarasota and Francis Cullen of the University of Cincinnati acknowledge the "lengthy roster" of previous studies on race and the U.S. prison system; yet theirs manages to contribute something crucial to the current debate: "… [G]iven the large body of research that documents a substantive association between punitiveness and racial animus," they write, "it is somewhat disconcerting that theories of the mass-incarceration movement do not place race and racism at the center of their explanation for why the United States imprisons so many of its citizens."

Liliana Segura Continues

Update: Jamie Scott, Mississippi Prisoner; Severely Ill Scott Wakened by Warden, Ordered to Work

Nancy LockhartApril 19, 2010 at 1:00pm
Subject: UPDATE: 4/19 ~ Jamie Scott Ordered To Scrub Prison Walls with One Arm - From Sis. Marpessa

Jamie Scott called her mother this morning and informed
her that Warden Holman woke her from sleep, demanding
to know what her mother was posting on the internet
regarding mold on the walls and leaking in her unit.
She got up and showed him the mold all over the walls
as well as sewage that was coming up out of the toilets
and the spiders overrunning the unit.

The warden then told Jamie (who only has the use of one
arm) to scrub down the walls, to which she refused! Jamie
told him that her mother is posting the truth and would
continue to post about the disgusting conditions of the unit
and how it was making her sicker and more prone to
infection, and that all of those years of mold would need
more than scrubbing anyway. She told him if she was
allowed to lay there and die that he hasn't seen anything
yet and would never hear the last of her mother!

The other women were awakened by the Warden and told
to scrub the mold off of the walls and they also refused!
They told the Warden that they were glad that everybody
is finding out about their horrible living conditions and that
the building needs to be torn down! No matter how the prison
tries to hide it, the truth will continue to be told!

One prison doctor has diagnosed Jamie with an infection
and another has not, but she has the discoloration that
is a hallmark of recurrent infection. She clarified that
it was determined that she was only on Heparin while in
the hospital and that it had been discontinued.

PLEASE PARTICIPATE in e-mailing our press release to at
least three press contacts as often as possible! It's at:
http://www.facebook.com/l/387a0;www.scribd.com/doc/30178263/Scott-Sisters-Press-Release
Many newspapers can be reached by e-mail or contact form
at http://www.facebook.com/l/387a0;www.usnpl.com/ - please also contact other forms
of media that you can easily find info for. We need a whole
lot of help to attract as much attention to this case as
possible to truly make a difference!

Thank you all, don't let up!!
--------------

Update on Mississippi Scott Sisters; Nancy Lockhart: You Can Send a Letter to Gov. Haley Barbour

Jamie and Gladys Scott, Imprisoned in Mississippi
Important Update on Mississippi Scott Sisters
Nancy Lockhart
April 5 at 6:35 pm:

Jamie Scott was returned to her regular jail cell at CMCF in 2A B Zone on approximately March 30. A permanent fistula was placed in her arm, however she still has the painful catheter in her groin area. Jamie was told this will remain there for about 6 more weeks as her arm heals and her veins become strong enough to take the dialysis.

After surgery her potassium spiked and she had vomiting and seizure. She has been stable since that time as far as we have been able to determine. One of the doctors who examined Jamie told her that she is at stage 5 kidney failure,which is the worst and considered end stage, and that in the "free" world she would qualify to be on the list for a kidney transplant. Other testing confirmed this and concur that it is the fault of MDOC because they should have caught it much sooner than when it reached stage 5, especially in light of Jamie's constant medical complaints and their denial or shuffling of her medications.

MDOC should not have been placing those temporary catheters into her neck instead of placing a shunt in her arm before now, but they were basically taking the cheap way out. Jamie needs to be RELEASED because the prison cannot be trusted to give her ANY SEMBLANCE of adequate medical care, particularly in her advanced stage of disease!

As has been posted previously, Dr. Gloria Perry stated that Jamie is not a candidate for transplant! Jamie's sister and other family members have offered to be tested for compatibility, yet been denied by MDOC. In a Mississippi Clarion Ledge article on March 18, Commissioner Epps was quoted as stating: "We've got a lot of sick people in Mississippi," he said. "Prison is just a subculture of the culture. When they come in to us, unfortunately, many times they haven't gotten treatment until we get them." All told, Epps said MDOC has 258 male and female inmates with HIV or AIDS.

But it doesn't end there. Altogether there are 5,621 inmates with medical conditions ranging from failing kidneys to heart disease."Those are some staggering numbers for a population of 21,000 people," he said.He said he hopes the department can "get by" spending $50 million this year on medical costs. Some inmates with complicated medical problems are released, he said. "I just signed off on 72 persons for medical release," he said.

Neither Jamie nor Mrs. Rasco have received any information to indicate whether or not Jamie's name might be on this list.

======

Free The Scott Sisters Now in Mississippi is collecting 10,000 signatures on the below letter, so please support and pass them on! Please copy and paste the below, sign and return to Atty Lumumba's office as instructed,this is very important so please participate!!

FREE THE SCOTT SISTERS NOW

Information Line: 1-888-600-5311
Governor Haley Barbour
P. O. Box 139
Jackson, MS 39205

RE: The Scott Sisters

Dear Governor Barbour:

I would like to bring your attention to the case of Jamie and Gladys Scott. These sisters have served more than 15 years of a double life term where no one was murdered or injured. State’s witnesses have testified to their innocence. Jamie Scott’s kidneys have failed and her health is fading fast.

We need your help now. Mississippi needs to know that those of us who believe in justice and human rights are prepared to take a stand for the Scott Sisters.

FREE THE SCOTT SISTERS NOW!!!!!

Signed,

(Your Name)

Truly Concerned Name: ______________________________

Address: ____________________________________________


Please forward this letter of support to:

Free the Scott Sisters
c/o Attorney Chokwe Lumumba
440 N. Mill Street Jackson, MS 39205

Jamie Scott Rushed Back To Prison So Mother Could Not Visit Hospital 3/25 Mississippi Scott Sisters Update

Jamie and Gladys Scott








Nancy LockhartMarch 25, 2010 at 5:24am
Subject: Jamie Scott Rushed Back To Prison So Mother Could Not Visit Hospital
3/25 SCOTT SISTERS UPDATE!

NOTE: If reading this before 10:00 a.m. EST or 9am CST on 3/25, please tune into http://www.facebook.com/l/9e070;www.wjzd.com for a Scott Sisters update from Mrs. Rasco on the Rip Daniels "It's a New Day" (http://www.facebook.com/l/9e070;www.itisanewday.com) show. Rip Daniels is a very dedicated supporter who starts each show off at 10 a.m. daily counting down how long Jamie and Gladys have been wrongfully locked down and tormented in that prison and will even discuss the case during some mornings on his program, so please check in as regularly as you can.
* * *

Mrs. Rasco and her entire family are in Mississippi to visit Jamie
and Gladys as well as to participate in the 3/26 MWM/BWDL Press
Conference scheduled for 12 noon in front of the Jackson, MS
Capitol Bldg. at 400 High St. The organization is asking for letters
of support for their campaign by 12 midnight 3/25 to be sent to
nationalmwm@aol.com or officialmwm@yahoo.com
For more info call: 267-636-3802.

Jamie has been in the hospital since 3/15 with a very serious infection,
severe weakness, extreme pain and swelling. Jamie stated that
she was "kicked out" of the hospital on Tuesday to prevent Mrs. Rasco
from coming in and asking questions, in fact an extra
guard was placed there to make certain that Mrs. Rasco didn't
come in there to see her. Jamie told Mrs. Rasco that she couldn't
believe how her 4' tall momma caused so much worry among those
prison officials!

She was abruptly moved to her old cell in the prison to await the visit with her mother and family to take place Wednesday for an hour, after which her family was to visit with Gladys for an hour. However, the Assistant Warden met them at the entrance and stated that some of the children weren't on the list to come in. After much wrangling and his personally searching the young men he permitted everyone to visit both women together BUT for one hour total, which actually ended up being less than an hour due to all of the wasted time spent being searched and with the Asst Warden on the phone rechecking names in the waiting area. The family watched in tears as Jamie climbed off of a bus and limped slowly and weakly to the visiting area and questioned staff as to why she wasn't given a wheelchair,to which they had no answer.

Jamie and Gladys grabbed onto each other and their family members
for a very emotional reunion, especially for the children. Both women
had lost quite a bit of weight, Gladys from extreme stress and depression
and Jamie due to her serious illness. Jamie stated that she was told by
the doctor that 6 catheter infections was much too much and that
she never should have had so many temporary catheters, which blew out
all of her veins where they were placed. She currently has a shunt in her
groin which is extremely painful and must be surgically removed next
week. She is scheduled to stay in her old cell until Friday, at which
time she is told that she will be returned to the hospital.

Both Jamie and Gladys want all of their supporters to know that
our activities are very greatly appreciated and that they want us to
keep on! Mrs. Rasco and family are also very thankful and hopeful
that together we can get those women released from this horrific
situation soon! If we keep pushing and use our creativity to call
attention to this case, it will happen! If you write, then write about
it; if you sing, sing about it; poet about it; creatively perform about
it; print out flyers and distribute them at programs and events, however
you can do it, please help get the word out about the plight of these
women, there's something that every one can do!

The Days of Blogging for the Scott Sisters that happened on 3/18 and
is so wonderfully happening again today will really help get the word out
on the case in wider and broader areas of the internet and hopefully lead
to much more support and national attention! Thanks so much to all
of the participants and we will be posting links to all of the blogs that
participated at the Scott Sisters site, so please send them in so that
you can be acknowledged! Of course everyone is encouraged to
continue blogging beyond today and please do!
~~~~~

We still don't trust that Jamie will receive adequate medical care once
these hospitalizations are completed, which was proven by the fact that
as soon as she was returned from the hospital yesterday she was
put right back in that moldy building where she was originally housed!
JAMIE SCOTT NEEDS TO BE HOUSED IN THE MEDICAL BUILDING.
Someone as seriously ill as Jamie needs to be somewhere that she can
get assistance in better living conditions, and that's not in the infirmary
and definitely not in her original cell. The Medical Bldg. would give her
access to her sister, Gladys, who would help her with her activities of
daily living and monitor her condition, just as other family members
incarcerated together there are permitted to do with less life-threatening
illnesses than Jamie suffers.

We must keep pushing for media attention to what's going on and are
continually pressing for nationwide press. A complete and in-depth
examination of this travesty of justice must be exposed!! Please
forward all of the info at the site to anyone, anywhere that can help
to make that happen, the Scott Sisters need to go prime-time to
apply enough pressure to make this Gov. do the right thing.

Jane Velez-Mitchell should do an entire segment on the Scott Sisters
now that she is aware of the case, please contact her and urge her to
follow-up her brief mention of the Scott Sisters on her 3/6 "Issues with
Jane Velez-Mitchell" with a more significant segment that will focus on
Jamie's serious medical condition and the Scott Sisters case
period. The contact form is at http://www.facebook.com/l/9e070;www.cnn.com/feedback/tips/newstips.html

EDITED FROM SCOTT SISTERS LIST SERVE

National Women's Organization Sets Kick Off; National Campaign to Free Scott Sisters

Contact: Nancy LockhartMarch 23, 2010 at 12:11pm

Subject: Press Conference Sponsored By Million Women's March - March 26th 12noon Jackson, Mississippi

PRESS CONFERENCE

Official "Kick Off" for The DIRECT ACTION National Campaign To
"FREE THE SCOTT SISTERS NOW !!!!

FRIDAY MARCH 26, 2010 12 noon
IN FRONT OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING 400 High St. JACKSON, MS

For more information e-mail: nationalmwm@aol.com
Call The Black Women's Defense League at 267-636-3802

Official and National Million Woman March & Universal Movements
Black Women's Defense League Unit
P.O. Box 53668
Philadelphia, PA 19105

New Blogging Day Set For Scott Sisters of Mississippi

Nancy LockhartMarch 22, 2010 at 5:50am
Subject: 3/25 DAY OF BLOGGING FOR THE SCOTT SISTERS ~ By Sister Marpessa
PLEASE PARTICIPATE AND SPREAD THE WORD!
3/25 DAY OF BLOGGING FOR THE SCOTT SISTERS
* * *

Thanks to the many excellent bloggers who participated in our
initial Day of Blogging for the Scott Sisters on 3/18!! The notices
didn't reach everyone in a timely manner and so we are happy to
announce a new date for bloggers to unite around this case
of Mississippi injustice and particularly to intervene in the
prison's medical malpractice being suffered by Jamie Scott!

In early January both of Jamie Scott's kidneys shut down and
she has been swiftly declining due to unprofessional medical
care that is inadequate, cut-rate and frighteningly inept. Jamie
was rushed to the hospital last week due to severe infection
and the need for prolonged medical attention. However,
Jamie continues to require ongoing close monitoring as when
she is returned to the prison it is well documented that the
medical staff there has provided abysmal health care in filthy
conditions that have put Jamie's life at risk far too many times
to be acceptable. Jamie needs to be released from prison,
period!

We ask that bloggers put out calls for students, clubs,
churches/temples/mosques, organizations, creative artists,
media, politicians, community leaders, journalists, etc. to
become aware of the case of the Scott Sisters and to make
certain that all of their contacts are informed, as well. There is
something that each person can do and we need to get Jamie
home while she still has time to be with her family!

Thanks to all who will participate in this and help to raise the call to
FREE THE SCOTT SISTERS throughout the blogosphere 3/25
and beyond! In the spirit of International Women's Month,
please support our women! Please send notification of any
blog postings to nattyreb@gmail.com!
----------------------

In conjunction with: http://www.facebook.com/l/dcf86;www.blackperspective.net

For Immediate Release
Afrosphere Action Coalition – March 22, 2010
Contact: Marpessa Kupendua of the Committee to Free the Scott Sisters at nattyreb@gmail.com

Wrongly Convicted In Dire Health Situation
3/25 DAY OF BLOGGING FOR THE SCOTT SISTERS

On 12/24/93, the Scott County Sheriff’s Department arrested Jamie and Gladys Scott for armed robbery even though three young males, ranging from ages 14 to 18, confessed to committing the crime and the women have unwaveringly maintained their complete innocence. Despite this, the corrupt Mississippi sheriff used coercion, threats, and harassment to compel the young men to turn state’s evidence against the Scott Sisters due to a long-standing vendetta against a family member. In 10/94 the Scott Sisters were sentenced to extraordinary double-life terms each, despite the facts that no one was harmed, neither sister had prior convictions, no weapon was ever recovered, and the amount alleged to have been taken was approximately $11.00. Even if they were guilty as charged, this sentence is completely outrageous and cruel.

Jamie Scott, who entered the prison system as a healthy young woman, is now suffering from complete kidney failure and other life-threatening medical conditions. Since January, 2010 Jamie has endured almost weekly severe health setbacks that the state has either outright refused to address or handled in a slipshod manner. Jamie has had weeks of serious infections that could have taken her life, has gone into shock, been given sporadic dialysis treatments, and suffered the state's refusal to provide her with adequate nutrition as required for her serious medical condition.

The Scott Sisters are now in their 16th year of incarceration and their five children and grandchildren are being raised by their now ailing mother. The defendants and their family are wholly dependent on support from the press, organizations, and all those dedicated to justice in making this debacle as public as possible. The lengthy incarceration of these women to date and their draconian sentences are completely shocking and must be challenged, enough is enough!

Mrs. Rasco and Afrosphere Bloggers are calling on the public to press the governor's office to pardon the Scott Sisters and release them, particularly Jamie who needs to be at home with her family during her very serious illness. Please ask that the media and politicians do an investigative inquiry about this tragic situation and the outrageous case of the wrongfully convicted Scott Sisters!

CONTACT GOV. BARBOUR’S OFFICE
P.O. Box 139
Jackson, Mississippi 39205
1-877-405-0733 or 601-359-3150
Fax: 601-359-3741
(If you reach VM leave msgs, faxes, and please send letters)

Congressman Bennie Thompson
3607 Medgar Evers Blvd.
Jackson, MS 39213
601-946-9003(ph)
601-982-5337 (fx)
Benniethompson@mail.house.gov

Congressman John Conyers
2426 Rayburn H.O.B.
Washington, DC 20515
Ph: 202-225-5126
Fax: 202-225-0072
---
For Complete Information - Free the Scott Sisters: http://www.facebook.com/l/dcf86;www.freethescottsisters.blogspot.com
Compassionate Release Petition: http://www.facebook.com/l/dcf86;www.scribd.com/doc/26252282/COMPASSIONATE-RELEASE-FOR-JAMIE-SCOTT
Free the Scott Sisters Petition: http://www.facebook.com/l/dcf86;www.ipetitions.com/petition/Free-Jamie-Gladys/index.html
Legal Transcripts: http://www.facebook.com/l/dcf86;www.scribd.com/Scott%20Sisters