To Be Released, Inmate Must Give a Kidney to Sister

Life sentence will be suspended, on one unique condition
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 30, 2010 8:05 AM CST
To Be Released, Inmate Must Give a Kidney to Sister
In this Sept. 15, 2010 photograph taken during a march in Jackson, Miss., supporters of Gladys and Jamie Scott call for the release of the two sisters.   (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File)

A Mississippi inmate will have her life sentence suspended, as long as she abides by one interesting condition: She must donate a kidney to her sister. Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted in 1994 of baiting two men into an armed robbery, in which only $11 was stolen. The sisters have spent 16 years behind bars while civil rights advocates have condemned their sentences as too excessive, the AP reports. Gladys, 36, came up with the idea to give her kidney to Jamie, 38, who is on daily dialysis.

Sentence suspensions come with conditions, unlike a pardon or a commutation, and can be reversed if the conditions—usually things like making parole meetings—are not met. The Mississippi NAACP is happy with the outcome, and says the condition is fine since Gladys volunteered. "She wanted to do it," says a spokesperson for Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, who suspended the sisters’ sentences yesterday. "That wasn't something we introduced."
(More prison sentence stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X