Cyntoia Brown, now 30 years old, has been serving time since 2004, when she was convicted of shooting 43-year-old Nashville real estate agent Johnny Allen. Brown, who was given a life sentence at the age of 16 was a victim of sex trafficking and is years into this unjust sentence. In 2010, the ACLU of Michigan filed a lawsuit on behalf of 9 imprisoned persons who were arrested and convicted as minors. The lawsuit states that denying the plaintiffs an opportunity for release constitutes cruel and unusual punishment and violates their constitutional right to a fair hearing to demonstrate their maturity and rehabilitation as well as customary international human rights law that prohibits the imposition of life without parole or release sentences on anyone who commits an offense under the age of 18 (ACLU). In 2012, the United States Supreme Court ruled that juveniles convicted of murder cannot be subject to a mandatory sentence of life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.
The Tennessee Supreme Court’s recent ruling in the case of Cyntoia Brown testifies to the continued harm and injustice within our current penal system. Today on the 70th anniversary of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and as Governor Haslam meets today to talk about Education, we declare that this is a case of Human Rights. A system that disproportionately and intimately harms People of Color, women, and other marginalized peoples is a matter of Human Rights. A system that allows the state of Tennessee to have a unique sentencing of 51 years is a matter of human rights.
Governor Bill Haslam has the opportunity to exercise his power on behalf of the people.
Black Lives Matter Nashville calls on Governor Bill Haslam to grant Cyntoia Brown immediate clemency.
We invite Tennesseans and the broader community to contact Governor Haslam at (615) 741-2001 to demand #Clemency4CyntoiaBrown.
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Black Lives Matter Nashville 