by David Safier
I present this without comment. I read it in "News of the Weird" on a back page of Tucson Weekly. For the more complete version of the story, see Bob Herbert's NY Times column, The Mississippi Pardons.
For months, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour has been indifferent to humanitarian appeals on behalf of sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott, who were convicted in 1993 of luring two men to a robbery (total take, $11; no injuries) but who were each mysteriously sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. (The actual robbers got two years.) Beyond the questionable sentence is Jamie's extremely poor health (double kidney failure). Gov. Barbour's unyielding position is to direct the appeals to the state's parole board. In 2008, bypassing the parole board, Gov. Barbour independently pardoned four vicious murderers who were serving life sentences, even though none had particularly claimed unfair conviction. The four had participated in a prison-sponsored odd-jobs program, helping out around the governor's mansion.
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Remember this in 2012 – Barbour is one of the non-D.C. Republicans who is looking at a run at the GOP’s presidential nomination.