By Eddie Griffin
Monday, June 21, 2010
Long overdue Justice may be coming to Mississippi… in the form of oil upon the pristine Gulf casino beaches
There comes a time when a man becomes so angry and frustrated that there is only one place to appeal: And, that is Heaven.
I DECLARE:
I, Eddie Griffin, will not eat or sleep until there is Justice for the Scott Sisters who are in prison, in the State of Mississippi. I may eat tomorrow because Justice may be on its way, in the form of oil upon the pristine Gulf casino beaches where the sin of sins thrives: Injustice.
In 1994, the State of Mississippi sentenced Jamie and Gladys Scott to consecutive double-life terms each for two counts of armed robbery they did not commit. They did not have prior criminal records, vigorously maintained their innocence, approximately $11 was said to have been netted, no one was harmed or injured and no weapon was ever recovered. Witnesses testified that they were coerced and threatened to lie on the Scott Sisters and their unbelievable convictions rest entirely on a combination of contradictory, coerced, and potentially perjured testimony by the victims and two other people charged with the crime who were offered lighter sentences for their cooperation.
For me, it is not an issue of guilt or innocence. It is the magnitude of Crime and Punishment, where punishment is so excessive that it can be called OPPRESSION.
Eddie Griffin (BASG) quietly and discretely petitioned government officials in the State of Mississippi to recognize the legitimate grievances in disparities of justice being practiced inside the courtrooms. Mississippi is not the only southern state that still practices Race Justice.
Our words have had little consolation. But there is some comfort to know that Mississippi will cry to Heaven when the oil hit the coast.
And, when they cry to Heaven and utter many prayers, then I, also, would hope and pray for Mercy, first for the Scott Sisters, and then to the State of Mississippi- and not in the reverse.
I need no approval or authority or consent of men. This is personal.
"Between the Gulf and the Red Sea" by Eddie Griffin
ReplyDeleteOn yesterday, I took it upon myself to engage in a public fast due my anger at the State of Mississippi and its criminal justice system. I was upset that the courts could sentence the Scott Sisters to double-life over an $11 robbery, in which no one was hurt. To me, the punishment exceeds the crime by so much that the entire system of justice is become hard-hearted, cruel, and unjust. The very jury who stood by this verdict and sentencing is guilty.
Then I remembered how we pleaded with the Governor of Mississippi to show mercy because the sisters had been imprisoned for over 15 years, based upon the coerced testimonies of teenage boys trying to gain a little sentence for themselves; and that each woman were now grandmothers, having watched their children grow up, deprived without a mother, and lastly one sister failing health requiring daily dialysis.
What could be crueler than to let either or both should die in prison over an $11 robbery, in which no one was hurt or killed?
This is NOT JUSTICE. This is an American acceptable means of racial oppression from the backwoods of Mississippi to the Tarrant County Jail, where a young first offender now faces a 5-99 year sentence for “aggravated robbery”, to wit “forcefully taking a person’s cell phone and using it.”
This is Southern Justice today.
But I can not physically force their release. All I can do is pray, publicly fast, and write these sob stories, and try to teach the pattern behind them, and safeguards against them.
Realizing the devil is alive and well, I always return to my refuge in the Bible. I try to keep the wolf at the door.
How can I see the oil in the Gulf through the same eyes as I see biblical events, like when all the waters of Egypt were turned to blood?
[to be continued]
This is crazy, repeat child molesters get only 5yrs for hurting children. How can this situation happen based on the testimony of someone w/ out evidence and no one was hurt? This is certainly not justice!!!!! Our "system" is broken.
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