Message from the President - July 8, 2011
Explicit conditions for release of incarcerated persons have veered above common rules such as sustainable housing and employment, abstinence from substance use and continuation of drug treatment, mandatory attendance in support groups, and attainment of an educational degree as illustrated by the case of the Scott Sisters. The decision for their release was not through adjudication on a judiciary finding, a legislative mandate, besetting public outcry, but as a cost- saving measure for corrections.
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour made the decision to suspend the life sentences of two sisters to parole after serving sixteen years, contingent upon one sister donating a kidney to the other. In 1994, Jamie and Gladys Scott were convicted of ambushing two men, hitting each in the head with a shotgun, and stealing $11.00 from their wallets. Mississippi Corrections Commissioner Christopher B. Epps agreed with the decision to suspend the sentences, stating Jamie Scott's three-times-a-week dialysis costs the state about $190,000 a year.
The rising costs of medical care impacts private citizens as well as those in the care of governmental systems. Concerns such as accessibility and affordability, led to the passage of a health care reform bill, although constitutionally challenged. States’ constitutional rights include health care for offenders; however, to what degree, for how much, and for how long became the question for Mississippi, and should be the question for us all. Research published by the Urban Institute’s Justice Policy Center in 2008 noted that “78% of offenders returning home were uninsured”. Upon release, the Scott Sisters medical concerns will be serviced under the auspices of the Health Disparities and Affordable Care Act and Medicaid, and consequently, raise salient issues.
By exercising his executive power, the governor provided an opportunity for equal access to health care for a racial minority to participate in health care reform, which includes coordinated care to manage chronic illnesses, insurance exclusions, and preventive services. It appears that Governor Barbour has a respect for human life as an inalienable right.
The uniqueness of this issue is the practice to uphold the rights of others and serve the common good. Rights of incarcerated persons can, and perhaps should, be upheld if the cost to incarcerate is a greater burden to citizens and the mission to protect the public is not compromised. In response to democratic influence (according to a few perspectives) the Mississippi Governor action polarized the issues surrounding the arrest, trial, and conviction of the Scott Sisters as democracy affords us the opportunity to revisit decisions. An innate sense of justice performed by a state’s executive power may lead a pursuit for democratic, restorative justice of civil rights to the fullest extent. Regardless of the motive, issues provide a mechanism for policy change, and when addressed, the outcome may result in the formulation of new public policy impacting both state and federal government.
Should not we in Oklahoma revisit our incarceration rank of # 1 in the nation for women at the average age of 35 as well as our incarceration rate in the state of 30% for African American males from an African American population of 8%?Sheila Anita Alford, President
National Association of Blacks in Criminal Justice
Oklahoma Chapter
