Then they got to work.
This week, state lawmakers and others inspired by Brown’s case are harnessing the state and national attention it drew by writing legislation that would give others like her a quicker road to a second chance.
The key proposal in their draft bill goes to the heart of the Brown case. It would make it possible for people found guilty of committing serious crimes like murder when they were under the age of 18 to be evaluated for parole if they have served at least 20 years of their sentence.
Brown had been serving a life sentence for first-degree murder, which in Tennessee meant she would have had to wait 51 years before she could appear before a parole board.
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“I just thought, this is crazy that a juvenile, especially one with a mitigating circumstance, will be sentenced to 51 years before they even had a chance to get out,” said state Sen. Raumesh Akbari, who is leading the effort on the bill. “I believe in second chances, particularly when we are talking about children.”
The draft also proposes that a life sentence without the possibility of parole should not be given to people who were under 18 when they committed the crime. It suggests that a parole board should consider factors related to their youth, like the role of peer pressure or the effects of trauma.
Akbari plans to introduce the bill early in the legislative session at the end of February, she said.
At least 148 inmates in Tennessee are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole for 51 years for crimes they committed as juveniles, according to figures from the state’s Department of Correction. Some were as young as 14 when they committed their offenses.
They include a woman who was sexually abused as a child who is serving a life sentence for a murder she committed at 17 and will be eligible for parole in 2022, and a man who is serving a life sentence for killing his abusive stepfather at 16 and will be eligible for parole in 2052.
Those cases were among the examples provided to legislators last year by Tennesseans for Reasonable Parole Review, an informal collective including a juvenile court judge, a juvenile court administrator, researchers, people who were incarcerated as youths, and the American Civil Liberties Union of Tennessee.
“The bottom line is most of these kids who end up doing very horrific crimes or tragic crimes have all in some ways been victimized,” said Judge Sheila Calloway, the juvenile court judge, who has been pushing for changes. “When we lock them up for life, we discount their ability to rehabilitate and become better citizens.”
A previous attempt to pass legislation that would make juveniles eligible for parole after serving 30 years instead of 51 years expired in committee last year. Part of the opposition to the bill cited the murder of a family in eastern Tennessee’s Greene County in 1997 by six youths, two of whom were 14 and 17 and were tried as adults. If passed, the bill would have retroactively applied to the Greene County killers.
Dan Armstrong, the elected district attorney in the county, lobbied legislators last year when the bill for juvenile sentencing changes was being considered. He said such legislation would make a “mockery” of the judicial system, particularly in cases involving the murder of multiple people.
“I understand the focus on juvenile justice reform,” he said. “I am not necessarily opposed to the idea. But the community has lived with this for over 20 years. How come we still have to fight this battle to keep these people in jail?”
In Brown’s case, she had run away from home at 16 and lived with a pimp who raped and abused her while forcing her to become a prostitute, according to court documents. In 2004, a 43-year-old man picked her up in Nashville for sex and drove her to his home, the documents say.
At one point, Brown said she thought he was reaching for a gun to kill her. She later shot him in his sleep and fled, taking money and guns, the documents say. In 2006, a jury found her guilty of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery.
Over the years, her case has inspired debate in Tennessee about juvenile criminal justice reform, victims’ rights, and the potential for rehabilitation for traumatized teenagers who have committed crimes.
Voices on both sides of the debate have been amplified this year. Nashville lawmakers passed a resolution backing Brown’s clemency, citing the “horrors of her childhood and the repeated sexual abuse she endured.” The detective who investigated the case wrote a letter to Gov. Bill Haslam, published by NewsChannel5, arguing that she should not be given clemency, saying her motive was robbery.
Brown’s case was elevated into the national discourse after celebrities picked it up as an example of injustice in a system that often punishes children and teenagers who are trafficked into prostitution.
Haslam, who is considering more clemency appeals before his term ends this week, bridged both sides when he announced Brown’s clemency, under which she will be released in August after serving 15 years.
He cited the “horrific crime” she committed but said that the life sentence imposed on her, with its 51 years before parole eligibility, was “too harsh.” He also noted the “extraordinary steps” she had taken to rebuild her life while in prison.
“Transformation should be accompanied by hope,” he said.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.