Rally for Scott sisters - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Rally for Scott sisters

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By David Kenney - bio | email

By David Kenney - bio | email

JACKSON, MS (WLBT) - A movement to free two Mississippi sisters, serving two life sentences for armed robbery is growing.

Tuesday a march and rally were held for the Scott sisters in downtown Jackson.

Their supporters claim they are innocent, and were unfairly punished for a armed robbery in Scott County, back in 1993.

Over 200 people filled the streets of Jackson along Farish Street park, stopping at the Governor's Mansion, ending up on the steps of the state capitol.

Supporters are calling the Scott sisters incarceration an injustice.

Trial transcripts show their sentence was enhanced because prosecutors believed they influenced three teens to commit the robbery.

Their attorney Chokwe Lumumba says the sisters are innocent, and the teens received lighter sentences.

A request for a pardon has been sent to Governor Barbour, but he has yet to respond.

"We hope the governor will use this as an opportunity to show what he's made of, to show even the person who has much more conservative views than we have is made of and what he wants Mississippi to represent and the minds of all those people on a national level that he's going to be asking to vote for him as either president or vice president in another year or so," said Lumumba, at the rally.

Several state lawmakers, and leaders from the African American community from across the country spoke at the rally.

There was also a request for donations to the free the Scott sisters campaign.

Organizers are already making plans for another march at the state capitol in April, if the Scott sisters aren't freed by then.

©2010 WLBT. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

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