Sister's promise to donate kidney leads to release of armed robbers

For 16 years, sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott have shared a life behind bars for their part in an $11 armed robbery. To share freedom, they must also share a kidney.

Mississippi governor Haley Barbour suspended the sisters' life sentences on Wednesday, but 36-year-old Gladys Scott's release is contingent on her giving a kidney to Jamie, her 38-year-old sister, who requires daily dialysis.

The sisters were convicted in 1994 of leading two men into an ambush in Mississippi the year before. Three teenagers hit each man in the head with a shotgun and took their wallets - making off with only $11.

Jamie and Gladys Scott were each convicted of two counts of armed robbery and sentenced to two life sentences.

Civil rights advocates have for years called for their release, saying the sentences were excessive. Those demands gained ground when Barbour asked the Mississippi Parole Board to take another look at the case.

The Scott sisters are eligible for parole in 2014, but Mr Barbour said prison officials no longer think they are a threat to society and Jamie's medical condition is costing the state a lot of money.

"I think it's a victory," said the sisters' lawyer, Chokwe Lumumba. "I talked to Gladys and she's elated about the news."

Mr Lumumba said he has no problem with the governor requiring Gladys to offer up her organ because "Gladys actually volunteered that as part of her petition". Mr Lumumba said it's not clear what caused the kidney failure, but it's likely a combination of different illnesses over the years.

Barbour spokesman Dan Turner said that Jamie Scott was released because she needs the transplant. He said Gladys Scott will be released if she agrees to donate her kidney because of the significant risk and recovery time. "She wanted to do it," Turner said. "That wasn't something we introduced."

Mr Barbour is a Republican in his second term who has been mentioned as a possible presidential contender in 2012. He said the parole board agreed with the indefinite suspension of their sentences, which is different from a pardon because it comes with conditions.

An "indefinite suspension of sentence" can be reversed if the conditions are not followed, but those requirements are usually things like meeting with a parole officer.

The Scott sisters have received significant public support. Hundreds of people marched through Jackson from the state capital to the governor's mansion in September, chanting in unison that the women should be freed. Still, their release won't be immediate.The women want to live with relatives in Florida, which requires approval from officials in that state.

Spokesman for the Mississippi branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People, Derrick Johnson, said the Scott sisters' release will be "a great victory for the state of Mississippi for two individuals who received an excessive sentence" and he has no problem with the kidney donation requirement because Gladys Scott volunteered. "Her sister can have a better quality life now," Mr Johnson said.

National NAACP president and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous said the suspension represents the good that can come with the power of governors to commute sentences.

The civil rights organisation worked to try to persuade Mr Barbour who ended up agreeing that the sisters "did not deserve to spend one more day in prison," Mr Jealous said, before adding: "It's again proof that when people get engaged, keep the faith, we can win."