Family members and advocates for Jamie and Gladys Scott, sisters serving life terms in Mississippi for a 1993 robbery that netted $11, are cautiously optimistic they may be released soon, says USA Today. Their mother, Evelyn Rasco, 64, has been working for 16 years to free her daughters by writing letters, calling officials, and appearing on talk radio shows. She maintains the sisters are innocent.
Jackson City Councilman Chokwe Lumumba, the sisters’ last attorney and an advocate for their release, is impressed with the speed with which Gov. Haley Barbour and the Mississippi Parole Board have responded to recent calls to have the case reviewed. Barbour, a Republican, has asked the parole board to review the case and make a recommendation for clemency. Shannon Warnock, the board’s chairwoman, said there is no timetable for a completion of the investigation, but the board’s investigator has been told it is a top priority. Ken Turner, who prosecuted the case, said he believes reducing the sisters’ sentences would be “appropriate.”