31 December 2010
Cruel and [Un]usual Punishment in Mississippi
Yesterday, The New York Times published a news article about two sisters in Mississippi. Gladys and Jamie Scott were convicted of armed robbery in 1994 and each was sentenced to life imprisonment. They will be eligible for parole in 2024. Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour (R) announced that he was suspending their sentences "because they no longer pose a threat to society. . . ." Plaudits for the governor? Here are some of the reported, disturbing details of this supposedly humanitarian gesture by Gov. Barbour.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/us/31sisters.html?_r=1&hpw
I am outraged. First, I think that a life sentenced for an $11.00 armed robbery represents a punishment so out of proportion to the crime that it should have been and still is a cruel and unusual punishment. I also think that racism pollutes this entire situation, from 1994 to now. I cannot understand why this injustice did not make national news in 1994. The women claim innocence and maintain the court did not consider a post-conviction appeal with exculpatory evidence. Even if they were guilty, the punishment does not fit the crime. If they were innocent, then the Mississippi state court needs to be investigated for a miscarriage of justice. Why weren't the sisters pardoned unconditionally or their sentences rescinded? Would the sisters be jailed to complete their original sentences if Gladys refuses or could not be a kidney donor for her sister? There are other blood relatives, including children, who could be candidates. After all, their sentences are only suspended on a unique condition. Stuff like this makes my blood boil.
There is another indication that racism played a part in this case. The victims were two Black men. If the victims had been White, would the women and the others involved ever lived to see a trial? Was the crime less dire because it was Black-on-Black crime and thus did not matter as much? How many white prisoners received comparable sentences and how many are still incarcerated in Mississippi jails? Call me cynical.
I also cannot believe the governor's justifying of his action on the cost to the state of Jamie Scott's medical treatments. Perhaps prisoners are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid benefits, but I doubt it. If Mississippi is not billing Medicare and Medicaid for health care costs of its prisoners, they have a bigger problem than Ms. Scott. Further, I wonder if she was diabetic prior to being in prison and forced to survive on prison food. What would Linsey Lohan do? The cost issue is a political red herring.
I think this sad story reveals the continuing overt racism against African Americans in Mississippi. Just last week, the same Haley Barbour praised the Citizens Committees that effectively kept Jim Crow politics and police tactics alive in that state throughout the last century. How can the citizens of Mississippi tolerate the governor's actions?
Do we have to go back to the tactics of the 1950s and 1960s to root out continuing racism in America?
So far, our national press has been asleep or is pretending sleep on this issue. Is racism becoming more tolerated again or do too many people forget about or weren't taught about the history of racism in America?
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- The Scott sisters were convicted, though there is conflicting evidence about their guilt, for a theft of $11.00. Eleven dollars! For this a judge sentenced them to life imprisonment!!
- Article 8 of The Constitution states: "Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted."
- Gov. Barbour suspended the sisters' imprisonment contingent upon Gladys Scott donating one of her kidneys to Jamie Scott, currently receiving dialysis and ill.
- Gov. Barbour, in addition to declaring the sisters no longer a threat to society, said his action was due to the high cost of the state's providing health care for Jamie Scott.
- Under federal law, according to a Medicare representative contacted by the Times, the sisters qualify for Medicaid, so the state would not have to fund their health care.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/31/us/31sisters.html?_r=1&hpw
I am outraged. First, I think that a life sentenced for an $11.00 armed robbery represents a punishment so out of proportion to the crime that it should have been and still is a cruel and unusual punishment. I also think that racism pollutes this entire situation, from 1994 to now. I cannot understand why this injustice did not make national news in 1994. The women claim innocence and maintain the court did not consider a post-conviction appeal with exculpatory evidence. Even if they were guilty, the punishment does not fit the crime. If they were innocent, then the Mississippi state court needs to be investigated for a miscarriage of justice. Why weren't the sisters pardoned unconditionally or their sentences rescinded? Would the sisters be jailed to complete their original sentences if Gladys refuses or could not be a kidney donor for her sister? There are other blood relatives, including children, who could be candidates. After all, their sentences are only suspended on a unique condition. Stuff like this makes my blood boil.
There is another indication that racism played a part in this case. The victims were two Black men. If the victims had been White, would the women and the others involved ever lived to see a trial? Was the crime less dire because it was Black-on-Black crime and thus did not matter as much? How many white prisoners received comparable sentences and how many are still incarcerated in Mississippi jails? Call me cynical.
I also cannot believe the governor's justifying of his action on the cost to the state of Jamie Scott's medical treatments. Perhaps prisoners are not eligible for Medicare or Medicaid benefits, but I doubt it. If Mississippi is not billing Medicare and Medicaid for health care costs of its prisoners, they have a bigger problem than Ms. Scott. Further, I wonder if she was diabetic prior to being in prison and forced to survive on prison food. What would Linsey Lohan do? The cost issue is a political red herring.
I think this sad story reveals the continuing overt racism against African Americans in Mississippi. Just last week, the same Haley Barbour praised the Citizens Committees that effectively kept Jim Crow politics and police tactics alive in that state throughout the last century. How can the citizens of Mississippi tolerate the governor's actions?
Do we have to go back to the tactics of the 1950s and 1960s to root out continuing racism in America?
So far, our national press has been asleep or is pretending sleep on this issue. Is racism becoming more tolerated again or do too many people forget about or weren't taught about the history of racism in America?
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