Tennessee governor considering clemency for sex trafficking victim Cyntoia Brown
Source: NBC News
Source: NBC News
Gov. Bill Haslam leaves office on Janaury 19.
As Gov. Bill Haslam's time in office comes to an end countless people have requested that the Tennessee governor grant clemency to Cyntoia Brown, the Nashville woman who was imprisoned at the age of 16 for killing a child predator who paid her for sex.
Recently, the Nashville Metro Council voted Thursday night to request Haslam grant clemency to Brown. The council voted 32-0 — with two members abstaining — to make the request, according to the Tennessean.
"If our prison system is set up to provide rehabilitation to those serving, then we need to give them the opportunity to rehab," Councilwoman Jacobia Dowell, one of the resolution's co-sponsors, said.
"If there is such an example of someone that has changed their life and has utilized the prison system to better themselves, I think she is an example of someone who has done so," she added.
Last month, Haslam granted clemency to 11 people but Brown wasn't one of those included. Prior to that he offered a new statement on clemency for Brown, saying: "The Cyntoia case has gotten a lot of publicity understandably, but again we want to make certain we're treating everybody fairly in this."
Haslam will leave office on January 19.
Aside from the Nashville Metro Council, a group of Nashville Black Lives Matter activists, as well as celebrities such as Rihanna, Kim Kardashian-West, and others, have requested Haslam grant Brown clemency.
Source: Tennessean
