Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is weighing whether to grant clemency to Cyntoia Brown, a Nashville woman serving a life sentence in prison for a murder she committed at 16, The Tennessean reports.”We are reviewing every aspect of it, just like we are with several other … similar cases,” Haslam said Monday. He said he wants to treat the case fairly, along with cases that are similar but have not received the same level of publicity Brown’s case has received in recent months. Brown’s advocates say she was the victim of sex trafficking, that her sentence was too harsh and she deserves to be released. Haslam has until Jan. 19, when he leaves office, to decide how he will handle the case. The state parole board, which was split in its recommendations, sent the case to the governor’s office in July.
Last week, the Tennessee Supreme Court said that Brown could be eligible for release after she serves 51 years in prison. She is also asking a federal appeals court to overturn her sentence. Those proceedings are separate from any decision Haslam makes as governor. Brown, now 30, was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to life in prison for shooting real estate agent Johnny Allen. Her legal team launched a challenge to her life sentence in the federal court system, citing a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling saying that giving juveniles life sentences without parole was cruel and unusual in most cases. Brown’s case has drawn national attention. Celebrities such as Rihanna and Kim Kardashian West have taken to social media to push for her freedom.