On Monday, Tennessee Gov. Republican Bill Haslam granted a full commutation to parole of the sentence of Cyntoia Brown. Brown, a sex-trafficking victim, has been serving a life sentence in prison since the age of 16 for killing 43-year-old Johnny Allen in his home after he solicited her for sex in 2004. At the time of Allen’s death, Brown was a runaway who was living with her 24-year-old boyfriend, a pimp who raped and forced her into prostitution.
Though she claimed self-defense in the shooting, Brown was charged as an adult and ultimately convicted of first-degree murder, felony murder, and aggravated robbery (she was caught with Allen’s wallet after the shooting). She was sentenced to life in prison. However, the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that life sentences without parole for juveniles is a violation of their constitutional rights. This was the basis for the subsequent appeals that Brown’s lawyers and advocates have made over the years. Recently, the case made headlines again due to renewed activism on social media calling for full clemency for Brown. Even reality star Kim Kardashian West weighed in on the case, hiring an expert lawyer to represent Brown and meeting with Donald Trump at the White House to discuss prison reform.
Despite the social media outrage and Kardashian West’s intervention, it looked like things were not going to go Brown’s way when, in December, Tennessee’s state Supreme Court ruled that she must remain in prison for 51 years before becoming eligible for parole. Haslam’s commutation effectively ends that determination and allows Brown to be released early, on Aug. 7. After her release, she must remain on parole for 10 years. She will also be required to work, perform at least 50 hours of community service, and participate in regular counseling sessions.
In a statement, Haslam said that Brown had “committed, by her own admission, a horrific crime at the age of 16,” but also acknowledged that having to serve 51 years before being considered for parole “is too harsh, especially in light of the extraordinary steps Ms. Brown has taken to rebuild her life.” Brown has served almost 14 years, and during that time, she earned her GED and associate’s degree.
There have been a lot of varying perspectives on this case. And regardless of opinion, it shines a spotlight on juvenile (in)justice in this country and the disparity in sentencing, particularly, for black and brown youth offenders. But by all accounts, this is excellent news. Brown, the victim of an abusive childhood who was forced into sex work and took someone’s life in the process, has worked hard to do better and make a life for herself.
Rob Touchstone, a professor who taught her in prison, called her one of the best students he’d ever had and said that she’s devoted to doing good, saying, "She seems to have used this experience that none of us could even imagine to become a better person." That’s what transformation and rehabilitation are about. Now Cyntoia will finally get her freedom, and the opportunity to live up to the potential she was so violently robbed of as a teenager.