Freed

Barbour Releases Scott Sisters

Two women were sentenced to life for stealing $11.

After backtracking on some controversial comments about the Civil Rights Movement, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour is doing right by the NAACP. Barbour announced late Wednesday that he will release Gladys and Jamie Scott—sisters who were charged with robbery in 1994—from jail. The Scott sisters were serving life sentences after they were convicted of armed robbery for stealing $11 from two white men. The governor nullified the sentence, stating that the "sisters no longer pose a threat to society." Barbour also noted the fact that Jamie Scott is ill and requires dialysis and possibly her sister's kidney. Gladys' release will depend on whether she is able to donate her kidney to her sister. But the head of the NAACP Benjamin Jealous still praised the governor's decision.