Ben Jealous Requests Pardon for Scott Sisters
NAACP President & CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous requested a pardon from Governor Haley Barbour Tuesday for two sisters incarcerated since 1994 despite troubling questions regarding the accuracy of witness testimony, possible coercion and potential racial bias.
the "Scott Sisters", Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted in a 1994 armed robbery which yielded $11, a crime in which they have consistently denied any involvement. Both sisters were sentenced to double-life sentences and have remained imprisoned since their convictions, despite the fact that they were convicted primarily on testimony from three teenagers reportedly coerced by the County Sherriff's office. One of the witnesses has since recanted his statement and acknowledged that the Scott Sisters are innocent.