cyntoia

Cyntoia Brown walked out of prison in August 2019 after serving 15 years of a life sentence for a murder she committed when she was 16. Her story is the focus of “Murder to Mercy: The Cyntoia Brown Story,” a Netflix feature documentary. Dan Birman directed this documentary and another on Cyntoia’s life that aired on PBS in 2011. He is a professor of professional practice and teaches documentary at the University of Southern California, Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism. What does Cyntoia’s case tell us about the US justice system? Cyntoia Brown’s case follows a complex social and legal path, but her story is common to thousands of young people in the justice system. As of 2017, there were nearly 44,000 juveniles locked up in America, and more than two-thirds were black or ...

Brown, whose case drew national US attention, said she was a victim of child trafficking when she killed a man in 2004. Cyntoia Brown, enters her clemency hearing at Tennessee Prison for Women in Nashville [File: Lacy Atkins/The Tennessean/AP Photo] Cyntoia Brown, who said she was a victim of child sex trafficking, was convicted of murder more than a decade ago and sentenced to life in prison. On Monday, Tennessee Governor Bill Haslam granted the now 30-year-old clemency. Haslam, whose term ends in two weeks, said he would show mercy to Brown, whose case has attracted national attention, by releasing her on August 7. She will remain on parole for 10 years. Brown said in a statement that she will do everything to justify Haslam's faith in her and thanked he...

Tag: cyntoia

Reflecting on the case of Cyntoia Brown – talking with the director of ‘Murder to Mercy’

Cyntoia Brown, sentenced to life at the age of 16, gets clemency