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Mississippi– Two Mississippi sisters who have been imprisoned for 16 years were released on Friday morning on the condition that the younger sibling donate a kidney to her older sister, whose organs are failing.

Jamie and Gladys Scott walked out of the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in Pearl, Miss. at just after 8 a.m. Central time Friday morning, and were greeted by their mother, their children and throngs of reporters.

The case of the Scott sisters attracted widespread attention after Gov. Haley Barbour suspended their double life sentences last month with the stipulation that Gladys Scott, 36, give one of her kidneys to Jamie Scott, 38.

The kidney donation was the sisters’ idea, and is supported by the N.A.A.C.P. and other civil rights organizations. But the unusual nature of the arrangement has been criticized by some medical ethicists.

Legal experts said that suspending a prison sentence contingent on an organ donation is highly unusual and may be unprecedented.

Read more at NYTimes

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