cyntoia brown was granted executive clemency on monday by tennessee governor bill haslam. brown was tried as an adult and convicted of first-degree murder, among other charges. brown is now eligible for release from prison august 7, 2019.
brown, a victim of child sex trafficking, was sentenced to life for killing 43 year-old johnny allen in 2004. brown was 16 then, and living with her 24 year-old boyfriend, a pimp named kut throat, who forced her into prostitution and raped her.
haslem said, "cyntoia brown committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16. yet, imposing a life sentence on a juvenile that would require her to serve at least 51 years before even being eligible for parole consideration is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps ms. brown has taken to rebuild her life."
tennessee's supreme court in december ruled brown must remain in prison at least 51 years before release eligibility. a lawsuit for her argued mandatory life sentences without parole for juveniles is unconstitutional. the court rejected the suit, inspiring the women's march to announce nationwide protests for brown - and other sex-trafficking victims - on january 19.
some notable celebrities, including rihanna and kim kardashian west, publicly joined people around the country who supported brown, after pbs produced a documentary about her in 2011, "me facing life: cyntoia's story."
under the conditions for her release, brown will be required to get a job, undergo regular counseling and work at least 50 hours of community service. in a statement through her lawyers, brown thanked haslem "for your act of mercy in giving me a second chance. i will do everything i can to justify your faith in me."
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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