One last bone for 2010

If you haven't heard there are two sisters in the south that have been incarcerated since 1996. They were involved in a robbery which 'netted' a mere $11.

The governor of Miss. (yes, one of the most notoriously racist states in the union), Gov. Haley Barbour is releasing the sisters on the condition that one give up an organ to the other who is in need.
One the surface, it's wonderful our sisters won't be incarcerated any more. However, how can you ethically mandate that she give up an organ! The release does not even address the egregious sentencing!!!

http://www.finalcall.com/artman/publish/National_News_2/article_7499.shtml

From this blogger's personal perspective, this release from the governor's office is a weak attempt to appease the immediate Black community of Mississippi for the death of Frederick Carter who was found hanging from a tree in a predominantly White community in Leflore county in addition to being a political move for an upcoming election (probably more toward the latter). 

We are just about at the end of accepting justice in piddly little increments. Too often when we begin to make our voices heard about injustices we are thrown a proverbial bone then our cry becomes a lull. With the sisters' release does that mean the unjust life sentence that was issued in the first place will be allowed to be meted out to another Black person who finds themselves in the justice system? Will they receive an apology for the harsh sentencing?
They caught the attention of the public but what about the hundreds possibly thousands of others who have sentences that are painfully unjust? This one dry 'bone' of justice (from the state of Miss. no less) should not lull us to sleep not even for a minute. Case in point, the headline from The Christian Science Monitor website Dec. 31 reads

"NAACP: Sisters' release makes Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour 'shining example'

Just last week, Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour was in hot water over his apparent approval of the all-white Citizens Council in the 1960s. But Thursday the NAACP lauded him for suspending the life sentences of two black sisters."

SERIOUSLY!!!???