Governor Commutes Sentence Of Rapist

Governor Huckabee has commuted the sentence of a convicted rapist who has spent 33 years behind bars. The governor followed through on intentions he announced September eleventh in the case of James E- Scott, who is serving a life sentence for the 1969 rape of a Forrest City teenager. Huckabee commuted Scott`s sentence to 202 years, nine months and 25 days, making him immediately available for parole. But parole is not automatic. Scott will have to convince the state parole board that he is fit for freedom. The notice started a minimum 30-day comment period. The governor`s proclamation yesterday said judicial and law enforcement officials in the 1st Judicial District where Scott was convicted raised no objections to his clemency request. Scott was one of the "Rockefeller 15" -- the entire death-row population of condemned men spared execution when then-Governor Winthrop Rockefeller commuted their sentences December 29th, 1970, days before he left office.