As you probably know, Governor Bill Haslam granted clemency to Cyntoia Brown. Brown, 30, was sentenced to life in prison after she, a teenage sex trafficking victim, killed a man who paid to have sex with her. Brown had appealed her life sentence after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that sentencing juveniles to life behind bars violates the Eighth Amendment's prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment. That appeal ended her in becoming eligible for parole at age 69 -- after 51 years.
Could the Brown case mean criminal justice reform in Tennessee?
Why would you appeal a felony conviction?
If you’ve been found guilty of a felony, you might wonder how your trial could’ve gone differently. Paying fines, providing compensation to a victim or their family, serving prison time and parole may all factor into your sentencing.
Tennessee man wins release, finally, thanks to First Step Act
You may remember the plight of Matthew Charles. Convicted for a crack offense, Charles was lucky enough to be released from prison in 2016, nearly a decade before his term was up. He had been saved -- he thought -- by a reduction in the federal sentencing guidelines' mandatory sentences for crack offenses.
