The start of the new year brought forth a compelling release given by the governor of Tennessee. In one of his final moments last week, Bill Haslam commuted a sentence for Cyntoia Brown, who had been in prison for roughly 15 years. A lot of attention was given over the past year about whether she would be released. Even a few celebrities chimed in on it. Come August, she will be a free person. What makes stand out?
Reading the articles, Brown was a teenager when she went to jail in 2004. As a 16-year old, she was a sex slave who was bought by a sex trafficker. It resulted in her shooting and killing the guy. She was brought to court and was given a 51 year sentence for murder. There was a documentary about her eight years ago. That same filmmaker involved, Daniel Birman, is still around and kept eye on all the events happening then and now.
While some will cheer, Tennessee is not giving her a slap on the wrist. They are giving Brown a strict parole sentence. She will be under that supervised for a good length of time. You can't blame them for what they are doing. I do think a 50 year sentence is too much, but the ultimate question is this. Will she go on the right path or will she become a common and career criminal? That's where the lengthy parole comes into play. I wouldn't think she would kill anyone again, but it could happen.
This case will be looked at for years to come. It will be an example of people expressing their thoughts on crimes that either too harsh or were worthy or not worthy of jail. It can also be a case of whether everything was looked at thoroughly and judges' thoughts on it. Not every judge is equal, and there was skeptical thoughts about Brown's time before killing the trafficker. That will be the question that remains until she is gone; cold blood or self defense.
But, let's wait and see until August. I got a feeling we haven't seen the last of Cyntoia Brown.
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