Mississippi governor Haley Barbour freed two sisters yesterday from a state prison where they were serving life sentences for an $11 armed robbery on condition that one donate a kidney to the other.
The sisters, Gladys and Jamie Scott, smiled and waved as they emerged from Central Mississippi Correctional Facility after 16 years in prison.
Thank you, thank you, they shouted as they were driven in a light blue car past crowds of supporters who had come from as far away as Canada to witness their release in the culmination of a long campaign for their freedom.
Mr Barbour, a Republican who is considering whether to run for president in 2012, suspended the two women’s sentences on condition that Gladys Scott (36), donate a kidney to her sister, Jamie (38), who requires dialysis.
The sisters were convicted of robbing at gunpoint two men who were driving them to a nightclub in northern Mississippi in 1993.
They had no prior criminal record. Each was sentenced to serve two life terms.
Mr Barbour, chairman of the Republican Governors’ Association, has said one reason for his decision to order their release was that Jamie Scott’s kidney dialysis and treatment was a financial burden on the state.
Transplant specialist Michael Shapiro has criticised the decision to impose a condition for the release as unethical, and possibly illegal.