16-year-old girl gets 51 years in prison for self-defense against attempted rapist/murderer

Cyntoia Brown, a 16-year-old girl, was afraid that a man who was going to rape her was also going to kill her, so she killed him in self-defense.  See this information:

https://www.freedomunited.org/news/calls-for-clemency-as-cyntoia-brown-given-51-years-in-jail/?trk_msg=G3JDM722QIFK56BHJIIIH18Q50&trk_contact=K0U2405KL0NSNF0DMJQ6KVTNEC&trk_sid=7H71ASV2V8BDKPMJ28IG9A6O90&utm_source=Listrak&utm_medium=email&utm_term=Calls+for+Clemency+as+Cyntoia+Brown+Given+51+Years+in+Jail&utm_campaign=News+Digest&utm_content=News+Digest_12162018

MORE INFORMATION from a non-profit organization urging Tennessee’s government to grant clemency::

Cyntoia Brown is a girl who our justice system failed. A sex trafficking victim who after days of being abused and drugged by her captors, was sold to a 43 year-old armed child predator. She feared for her life. She defended her life. The system failed to protect her.  Cyntoia Brown has been locked away in prison since 2004 and has been fighting for her freedom ever since.

Cyntoia Brown deserves to be free. In 2012 and again in 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that life without parole for juveniles—or those who committed crimes before the age of 18—was unconstitutional. The ruling affected thousands of juveniles sentenced to life across the country. Tennessee, a state that has not revised its laws to allow people sentenced to life as juveniles to apply for re-sentencing, has left Cyntoia Brown and others convicted as juveniles to languish in Tennessee prisons for at least half a century. Tennessee’s law allows for the possibility of parole after serving 51 years for everyone sentenced to life in prison, a controversial cookie cutter approach that harms juveniles, by effectively reinforcing life sentences for people like Cyntoia. This means that Cyntoia would have to wait until the age of sixty-seven for the opportunity to convince a parole board to allow her another chance at life. This is not justice, this is a life sentence in another form. This is freedom denied.

In May of 20198 the six-member Tennessee Parole Board was split on their decision to grant her clemency once again denying Cyntoia her freedom.   Now the decision rests in the hands of Tennessee governor Bill Haslam. Cyntoia, her loved ones, and concerned communities across the country are anxiously awaiting his decision. Governor Haslam must do what is right and free Cyntoia Brown. Releasing Cyntoia from prison will be an important step towards justice and an affirmation of Cyntoia’s dignity and humanity. Furthermore, it will be an important first step in ending juvenile life sentences.

Another non-profit org provides this information about Cyntoia Brown’s situation:

Cyntoia Brown was just sixteen when she was sex-trafficked by a pimp called Kut-throat. Just days after being repeatedly drugged and raped by different men, a 43-year-old man purchased her for sex and took her home. When she feared for her life, she killed him in self-defense. This was in 2004.

Cyntoia found the courage to save her own life, but the state of Tennessee put her under trial as an adult for first-degree murder. As of right now, she has served 14 years in prison—nearly half her life. The Tennessee Supreme Court ruled this week that she’ll will have to serve 51 years before she is eligible for release. We can’t let this injustice stand.

Tell Tennessee’s Governor Haslam to free Cyntoia Brown and grant her clemency today!

CLICK THIS LINK:    https://p2a.co/PaXpdf5?link_id=1&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-cyntoia&email_referrer=email_468302&email_subject=cyntoia

Cyntoia is living proof of the harm our “justice” system does to girls and women of color. While so many white men are given a slap on the wrist for violence against women, she was incarcerated and given a staggeringly harsh sentence.

We can’t erase the pain Cyntoia endured or give her back the fourteen years she’s been imprisoned. But we can fight to set her free.
Governor Haslam has a chance to end this outrage and grant Cyntoia clemency. But in mid-December 2018 the governor has just a few weeks left to do the right thing and he needs to hear from you today.

PLEASE CLICK THIS LINK:  https://p2a.co/PaXpdf5?link_id=1&can_id=1d662460c0abb8939c5044c82927552b&source=email-cyntoia&email_referrer=email_468302&email_subject=cyntoia

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org