"Kidney Sisters" Freed From Miss. Prison, One Must Donate Organ to the Other

PEARL, Miss. (CBS/AP) Two Mississippi women, dubbed the "Kidney Sisters" after their life sentences were suspended on the condition that one donate a kidney to the other, were released from prison on Friday after serving 16 years for an armed robbery.

Jamie and Gladys Scott waved to reporters and yelled "we're free" and "God bless y'all" as they left the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility in an SUV.

Jamie Scott, 36, is on dialysis, which officials say costs the state about $200,000 a year.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour agreed to release her from prison because of her medical condition, but 38-year-old Gladys Scott's release order says one of the conditions she must meet is to donate the kidney within one year.

The idea to donate the organ was Gladys Scott's, and she volunteered to do it in her petition for early release.

The Scotts were convicted in 1994 of an armed robbery in central Mississippi the year before. The robbery didn't net much; amounts cited have ranged from $11 to $200.

The sisters' attorney, Chokwe Lumumba, said the women hope to get government-funded Medicaid health insurance in Florida and begin the needed steps to make the transplant happen. He said a few doctors have expressed interest in performing the kidney transplant, but there are no firm plans yet. Also, the sisters need to undergo testing to make sure they are compatible.

Some medical experts said the arrangement for the sisters' release raises legal and ethical concerns, but their supporters say Gladys Scott wants to try to save her sister's life.

The sisters are moving to the Florida Panhandle, where their mother and grown children live.