| Mississippi still unable to get it right! |
Scott_Sisters
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE PRLog (Press Release) – Oct 05, 2010 – The case
On December 23, 1992, the Scott sisters resided in the small town of Forest, Mississippi. Gladys 19 years old and Jamie 22. Jamie had three children and Gladys had a daughter and was pregnant with her second child. After making some purchases at a Mini Mart, they discovered they had car trouble and asked two Black men for a lift home. Later that evening the two men were robbed by three teen-agers of the Patrick family, the teenagers confessed to the robbery. Even though the confessions did not implicate the Scott sisters, Sheriff Marvin Williams showed up at their house in the morning and arrested them.
A year later Gladys and Jamie were found guilty of armed robbery based on tainted testimonies, the state’s attorney convinced the jury that the Scott sisters masterminded the robbery even though the victims testified that this was not true. The teen-agers were also found guilty, but got light sentences later it was uncovered they made a deal with the Attorney general’s office to blame the older women. One 14-year-old Howard Patrick admitted under cross-examination that he had blamed the sisters to avoid being raped in prison as he was assured by the attorneys and sheriffs office that it would definitely happen if he did not cooperate. A jury sentenced Jamie and Gladys to spend life in prison for an 11 dollar robbery they did not commit. Four years later, another of the Patrick teens signed an affidavit clearing the Scott sisters of the robbery, but this statement was never considered in a court of law.
The newspaper the Black Commentator, uncovered that the vicious incrimination of the Scott sisters was the culmination of a vendetta by former Sheriff Glenn Warren, known as the “high white sheriff”, because the Scott Sisters’ father, James ‘Hawk’ Rasco, a civil rights activist in his community refused to be intimidated by the system of white power and corruption in the Mississippi county. It was discovered the sherriff was involved with bootleggers and a cousin who had to pay a bribe to Sheriff Warren in order to sell illegal alcohol in his club testified against Sherriff Warren in an investigation of “a bootlegging operation that involved the judge who presided over the Scott’s trial.” James Rasco bought the club and refused to go along with business as usual so the new sheriff, Marvin Williams, had a score to settle.
James Rasco died of a heart attack in 2003, Mrs. Evelyn Rasco, who takes care of the children of Gladys and Jamie as well as her own has worked diligently for years to get these unjustly incarcerated women out of prison it has so angered the powers that be in Mississippi that now they are denying her visitation also Jamie Scott who is now 38 is suffering from Kidney failure. The prison health caretaker is wexford that has a policy of keeping health care expenditures as low as possible thus making sure that jamies life threatening condition is is even more dire due to inadequate care. Enter the Gray Haired Witnesses a a group of seven black women determined to right these injustices who organized a massive media expose’ of the injustices still endured by black people in Mississippi. The following is a statement released by them…
“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. They use their power and resources to lock-up down-out people of color, especially Black people.
“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, where such egregious travesties of justice are heaped upon our women with hate-filled arrogance and in plain view!...”
“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.” At this time the prison has not ok’d a kidney transplant for Jamie even though her sister is a willing donor causing many to wonder if the state is hoping she will die so she cannot sue them later for wrongful imprisonment. The sister’s legal team has sent pleas for clemency or compassionate release to Governor Haley Barbour who has a reputation for rarely issuing pardons deserved or not. The Mississippi Department of Corrections has a provision for conditional medical release but the condition must be terminal or totally disabling and the only way to prove that is for her to die. Currently a film documentary is being made of this True story.
If you would like to support The Scott sisters…
PLEASE ACT, REPOST, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, TALK ABOUT IT, REPOST!
Please go to the link below and request that Color of Change feature the Scott Sisters.
http://www.colorofchange.org/
Also copy and paste in an e-mail to: info@colorofchange.org
Thank you!
On December 23, 1992, the Scott sisters resided in the small town of Forest, Mississippi. Gladys 19 years old and Jamie 22. Jamie had three children and Gladys had a daughter and was pregnant with her second child. After making some purchases at a Mini Mart, they discovered they had car trouble and asked two Black men for a lift home. Later that evening the two men were robbed by three teen-agers of the Patrick family, the teenagers confessed to the robbery. Even though the confessions did not implicate the Scott sisters, Sheriff Marvin Williams showed up at their house in the morning and arrested them.
A year later Gladys and Jamie were found guilty of armed robbery based on tainted testimonies, the state’s attorney convinced the jury that the Scott sisters masterminded the robbery even though the victims testified that this was not true. The teen-agers were also found guilty, but got light sentences later it was uncovered they made a deal with the Attorney general’s office to blame the older women. One 14-year-old Howard Patrick admitted under cross-examination that he had blamed the sisters to avoid being raped in prison as he was assured by the attorneys and sheriffs office that it would definitely happen if he did not cooperate. A jury sentenced Jamie and Gladys to spend life in prison for an 11 dollar robbery they did not commit. Four years later, another of the Patrick teens signed an affidavit clearing the Scott sisters of the robbery, but this statement was never considered in a court of law.
The newspaper the Black Commentator, uncovered that the vicious incrimination of the Scott sisters was the culmination of a vendetta by former Sheriff Glenn Warren, known as the “high white sheriff”, because the Scott Sisters’ father, James ‘Hawk’ Rasco, a civil rights activist in his community refused to be intimidated by the system of white power and corruption in the Mississippi county. It was discovered the sherriff was involved with bootleggers and a cousin who had to pay a bribe to Sheriff Warren in order to sell illegal alcohol in his club testified against Sherriff Warren in an investigation of “a bootlegging operation that involved the judge who presided over the Scott’s trial.” James Rasco bought the club and refused to go along with business as usual so the new sheriff, Marvin Williams, had a score to settle.
James Rasco died of a heart attack in 2003, Mrs. Evelyn Rasco, who takes care of the children of Gladys and Jamie as well as her own has worked diligently for years to get these unjustly incarcerated women out of prison it has so angered the powers that be in Mississippi that now they are denying her visitation also Jamie Scott who is now 38 is suffering from Kidney failure. The prison health caretaker is wexford that has a policy of keeping health care expenditures as low as possible thus making sure that jamies life threatening condition is is even more dire due to inadequate care. Enter the Gray Haired Witnesses a a group of seven black women determined to right these injustices who organized a massive media expose’ of the injustices still endured by black people in Mississippi. The following is a statement released by them…
“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. They use their power and resources to lock-up down-out people of color, especially Black people.
“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, where such egregious travesties of justice are heaped upon our women with hate-filled arrogance and in plain view!...”
“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.” At this time the prison has not ok’d a kidney transplant for Jamie even though her sister is a willing donor causing many to wonder if the state is hoping she will die so she cannot sue them later for wrongful imprisonment. The sister’s legal team has sent pleas for clemency or compassionate release to Governor Haley Barbour who has a reputation for rarely issuing pardons deserved or not. The Mississippi Department of Corrections has a provision for conditional medical release but the condition must be terminal or totally disabling and the only way to prove that is for her to die. Currently a film documentary is being made of this True story.
If you would like to support The Scott sisters…
PLEASE ACT, REPOST, FACEBOOK, TWITTER, TALK ABOUT IT, REPOST!
Please go to the link below and request that Color of Change feature the Scott Sisters.
http://www.colorofchange.org/
Also copy and paste in an e-mail to: info@colorofchange.org
Thank you!
# # #
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Hot Stepz Magazine is a unique publication geared toward positive lifestyle, and entertainment. By highlighting a multitude of Dance, Fashion and Music genres, Hot Stepz is more than a magazine Hot Stepz Magazine is a Movement!
Hot Stepz Magazine is a unique publication geared toward positive lifestyle, and entertainment. By highlighting a multitude of Dance, Fashion and Music genres, Hot Stepz is more than a magazine Hot Stepz Magazine is a Movement!
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