- Background and Introduction
In 1993, Gladys and Jamie Scott, aged 19 and 21, lured two men outside of a convenience store where they would be robbed at gunpoint by three men aged 14-18. The total amount stolen during this roadside robbery in Forest, Mississippi amounted to $11[i].
During their trial, the three men were allegedly pressured into accepting plea bargains and testifying against the Scott sisters; in exchange, their sentences were shortened, with each boy not serving more than three years in prison[ii]. On the other hand, the young mothers were sentenced to double life sentences for their roles in this crime[iii]. The judge issued this extreme punishment because she believed the women were responsible for organizing the crime. Because the women have never spoken about the trial, there is no further information regarding the basis for such an extreme accusation and, consecutively, punishment[iv].
In December of 2010, Governor Haley Barbour preponed the sisters’ release on the medical grounds that Gladys would donate a kidney to her sister who was diagnosed with end-stage kidney failure, after significant work by the NAACP and several women’s organizations who brought attention to this extreme sentencing. During his statement he claimed this decision was made for two reasons: the women were no longer a threat and the cost of Jaime’s care was around 200,000 and served as a huge burden to the state of Mississippi[v]. Through their sentencing, we can explore the themes of biological citizenship, racialization, and structural violence.
2. Historical/Topical Context
This relatively recent event sheds light on the correlation between mass incarceration and race.
In this way, as we hear more about police brutality towards people of color, it is important to note the institutions that have allowed for the systematic mass incarcerations of these individuals. While the Scott sisters were freed, after a long fight by various internet communities, the N.A.A.C.P., and several black Mississippi politicians, before completing their life sentence, we must consider the severity with which their robbery was viewed under the justice system[vi].
While the United States is only home to 5% of the world’s population, it is also responsible for 25% of the world’s incarcerations – the highest of any country in the world[vii]. Moreover, prisons often confine large groups of unhealthy people of color – therefore propelling poor health into minority communities because even if these individuals are released, their children will bear the burden of their imprisoned parents’ poor health. A large flaw of this system is the prison system’s lack of focus on rehabilitation[viii]. As a result, frequent members of the prison ward are cycled in and out of the prison system for generations to come – never allowing them the opportunity to rehabilitate. Jaime and Gladys have both reflected on the prison cycle that plagues their community. During their time in prison, they note they met many other youngsters who have been condemned to spend their childhoods in prison and who, they believe, will return to prison shortly after being released[ix].
3. Controversy/Perspectives
Furthermore, there is widespread controversy regarding the governor’s reasoning for allowing the suspension of the sisters’ sentences. Under the eighth amendment, Mississippi is legally required to provide adequate healthcare to prisoners in custody. Therefore, while the governor is allowed to pardon criminals for any reason he deems, this particular reason has been called into question due to its potential to void the constitution Additionally, the governor was accused of masking his disagreement with the sisters’ sentencing with this medical excuse. Since he was seeking re-election, it was speculated that he made this statement to position himself as authoritative and “tough on crime”[x].
Additionally, the case of the Scott sisters is one that confronts the ethics of organ donation. In order to ensure that the organ donor is not being exploited by the recipient, rules enforcing voluntary exchange have been instituted to avoid ethical issues. Additionally, the organ donor cannot receive anything, besides gratitude, in exchange for the organ. As such, in the case of the Scott Sisters, shortening the women’s life sentence to prison allows for much controversy. Moreover, it was unprecedented to allow this release with the contingency of organ donation, as written by the N.A.A.C.P. and the Solitary Watch,
“For the governor to mandate this donation is both unprecedented and unconscionable. As others have pointed out, releasing Jamie Scott before she has this costly life-saving surgery could also stand to save the state a considerable amount of money; a donation from her sister could save even more, and is apparently part of the price of their freedom” (“Scott Sisters: Mississippi Justice”).
Additionally, since the suspension of their sentences, they are required to pay $52/month for the rest of their lives for the administration of parole in Florida. After their release the women were pronounced unfit to proceed with the organ donation surgeries due to their poor health and obesity[xi].
4. How it Relates to Politics of Health
This term is related to the politics of health because of its underlying themes of biological citizenship and racialization.
In terms of biological citizenship, Governor Barbour’s terms of release require Gladys to exchange pieces of her biology in exchange for freedom. This contingency for their freedom is key when considering that prisoners are the only members of North American society who have the right to healthcare access[xii]. Moreover, prisoners are highly susceptible to coercion due to the vulnerability and desperation of their situations, which can only be exacerbated when met with double life sentences. Such a coercion would invalidate the requirement for organ donation to occur by voluntary exchange.
This issue has been racialized because the women’s sentence was suspended, not pardoned. While a pardoning would have allowed them to work, due to this suspension, the sisters will spend the rest of their lives on parole and cannot seek employment or even work, they are being subjected to the New Jim Crow. An age where, as author Michelle Alexander describes, “we use our criminal system to label people of color ‘criminals’ and then engage in all the practices we supposedly left behind”[xiii]. As such, it is reasonable to suggest that such a crime be compared to the New Jim Crow, due to its systematic methodology of mass incarceration of poor black people, condemned to “draconian sentences for minor crimes and does little to ensure fair trials or to exonerate the innocent”[xiv].
Works Cited
Goldberg, Aviva M., and Joel Frader. “Prisoners as Living Organ Donors: The Case of the Scott Sisters.” The American Journal of Bioethics11, no. 10 (2011): 15-16. Accessed February 27, 2017. doi:10.1080/15265161.2011.603806.
James, Susan Donaldson. “Supporters Applaud Plan to Release Scott Sisters in Kidney Deal.” ABC News. December 30, 2010. Accessed February 25, 2017. http://abcnews.go.com/US/scott-sisters-released-16-years-prison-kidney-deal/story?id=12508754.
Lee, Michelle Ye Hee. “Yes, U.S. locks people up at a higher rate than any other country.” The Washington Post. July 07, 2015. Accessed February 27, 2017. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/07/yes-u-s-locks-people-up-at-a-higher-rate-than-any-other-country/?utm_term=.dd139cd2acbc.
“MISSISSIPPI / SCOTT SISTERS.” In MISSISSIPPI / SCOTT SISTERS. NBC Evening News. December 31, 2010. Accessed February 25, 2017.
Pollock, A. “On the Suspended Sentences of the Scott Sisters: Mass Incarceration, Kidney Donation, and the Biopolitics of Race in the United States.” Science, Technology & Human Values. 40, no. 2 (2014): 250-71. doi:10.1177/0162243914539569.
“Scott Sisters: Mississippi Justice.” Women and Prison. January 7, 2011. Accessed February 27, 2017. http://womenandprison.org/social-justice/view/help_free_the_scott_sisters/.
Smith, Micah. “The Scott Sisters.” Jackson Free Press. Accessed February 25, 2017. http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/aug/07/scott-sisters/.
“Transcript.” Scribd. Accessed February 27, 2017. https://www.scribd.com/doc/21748820/Scott-transcripta#.
Weathersbee, Tonyaa. “Add the Scott Sisters to Mississippi’s List of Injustice.” New America Media. December 3, 2010. Accessed February 27, 2017. http://newamericamedia.org/2010/12/add-the-scott-sisters-to-mississippis-list-of-unjustice.php.
Williams, Timothy. “Jailed Sisters Are Released for Kidney Transplant.” The New York Times. January 07, 2011. Accessed February 25, 2017. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/us/08sisters.html?_r=0.
[i] Susan Donaldson James, “Supporters Applaud Plan to Release Scott Sisters in Kidney Deal,” ABC News, December 30, 2010, accessed February 27, 2017, http://abcnews.go.com/US/scott-sisters-released-16-years-prison-kidney-deal/story?id=12508754.
[ii] James, “Supporters Applaud Plan to Release Scott Sisters in Kidney Deal”.
[iii] “Transcript,” Scribd, accessed February 27, 2017, https://www.scribd.com/doc/21748820/Scott-transcripta#.
[iv] Timothy Williams, “Jailed Sisters Are Released for Kidney Transplant,” The New York Times, January 07, 2011, , accessed February 25, 2017, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/08/us/08sisters.html?_r=0.
[v] Aviva M. Goldberg and Joel Frader, “Prisoners as Living Organ Donors: The Case of the Scott Sisters,” The American Journal of Bioethics 11, no. 10 (2011), accessed February 27, 2017, doi:10.1080/15265161.2011.603806.
[vi] Williams, “Jailed Sisters Are Released for Kidney Transplant”.
[vii] Michelle Ye Hee Lee, “Yes, U.S. locks people up at a higher rate than any other country,” The Washington Post, July 07, 2015, , accessed February 27, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/07/07/yes-u-s-locks-people-up-at-a-higher-rate-than-any-other-country/?utm_term=.dd139cd2acbc.
[viii] A. Pollock, “On the Suspended Sentences of the Scott Sisters: Mass Incarceration, Kidney Donation, and the Biopolitics of Race in the United States,” Science, Technology & Human Values 40, no. 2 (2014), doi:10.1177/0162243914539569.
[ix] Micah Smith, “The Scott Sisters,” The Scott Sisters | Jackson Free Press | Jackson, MS, , accessed February 25, 2017, http://www.jacksonfreepress.com/news/2015/aug/07/scott-sisters/.
[x] Goldberg and Frader, “Prisoners as Living Organ Donors: The Case of the Scott Sisters”.
[xi] A. Pollock, “On the Suspended Sentences of the Scott Sisters: Mass Incarceration, Kidney Donation, and the Biopolitics of Race in the United States”.
[xii] Ibid.
[xiii] Tonyaa Weathersbee, “Add the Scott Sisters to Mississippi’s List of Injustice,” New America Media, December 3, 2010, , accessed February 27, 2017, http://newamericamedia.org/2010/12/add-the-scott-sisters-to-mississippis-list-of-unjustice.php.
[xiv] Weathersebee, “Add the Scott Sisters to Mississippi’s List of Injustice”.
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