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"Kidney parole condition raises ethical questions"

By Douglas A. Berman

The title of this post is the (slightly erroneous) headline of this AP article discussing the most notable feature of Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour's decision yesterday (first discussed here) to condition a prisoner's release on "her donating one of her kidneys to her sister, a procedure which should be scheduled with urgency." Here are excerpts from the AP report: A debate is unfolding over an unusual offer from Mississippi's governor: He will free two sisters imprisoned for an armed robbery that netted $11, but one woman's release requires her to donate her kidney to the other. The condition is alarming some experts, who have raised legal and ethical questions. Among them: If it turns out the sisters aren't a good tissue match, does that mean the healthy one goes back to jail? Gov...continue to full post

Full post as published by Sentencing Law and Policy on December 30, 2010 (boomark / email).