Last month, we shared with you once again, the tragic story of
Cyntoia Brown.
The young girl who at just 16 was sentenced to life in 2004. Brown ran away from home as a teenager and began living a life on the streets where she met a man who would take her situation from bad to worse. This man, known as "Kut Throat," often used force to pimp her to johns who would pay to sleep with an underaged girl.
It was with one of those johns, in August of 2004, that
Cyntoia felt that she was about to be killed.
She said she feared that her abuser, a 43-year-old real estate agent named Johnny Allen was going to kill her, and that's when she decided to act. In self-defense, she grabbed one of the many guns Allen had strewn around his house and shot him.
Cyntoia was tried as an adult by prosecutors and she was sentenced, only eligible for parole after serving more than five decades behind bars. The verdict made news worldwide. A young girl, who had been abused from a young age and fought back against her rapist was being punished with a heartless nightmare sentence.
Today, Cyntoia's nightmare is almost over. Outgoing Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam announced that has granted the now-30-year-old clemency and that she will be released on parole supervision this August. After 15 years of unjust punishment in the Tennessee prison system, Brown is now set to have a new lease on life.
While we are thrilled that Gov. Haslam has decided to release Ms. Brown as he leaves office, we question why he has decided to let her linger in jail a full eight more months. If Haslam recognizes that her life sentence was unjust then why must she spend one more day in prison? Cyntoia, from today on, should be given her freedom back so she can move forward with her life and her goals as a recent college graduate.
Please sign the petition and urge outgoing governor Bill Haslam and incoming governor Bill Lee to end Cyntoia's nightmare. Tell them to release Cyntoia Brown today.