February 13, 2025

cjstudents

News for criminal justice students

Cyntoia Brown-Long, Bill Haslam will speak about prison reform

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More than three years after she was granted clemency, Cyntoia Brown-Long will join former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam in a public discussion of criminal justice reform.

The Tuesday evening event at Vanderbilt University will be their first public event together. Haslam commuted Brown-Long’s sentence in January 2019 and she was released from the Tennessee Prison for Women in August 2019.

Haslam told Knox News it was a decision he’s learned from and one that supported his personal convictions.

“I’m grateful to see Cyntoia’s life since she got out,” Haslam said. “Being in office as governor you get to make a lot of decisions. Some, you look back on and in hindsight realize you might have done that a little different. In Cyntoia’s case, I have never had a moment to doubt that I made the right decision. It has been a source of joy for me to get to know Cyntoia better and see the life she’s living.”

Cyntoia Brown, third from left, posted this photo on her official Facebook page on Aug. 18, captioning it: "Lunch date with Governor Bill Haslam and First Lady Crissy Haslam. Around this time two years ago this man of God ordered that I be released from prison. Forever grateful."

The public event, “Reform for Redemption:Cyntoia Brown Long and Gov. Bill Haslam on Criminal Justice Reform and the Power of Mercy,” will be held in person and online at 6 p.m. Central time Tuesday at Langford Auditorium.

Brown-Long has advocated for juvenile sentencing reform since she was behind bars, and Haslam said there is more work to be done in restorative justice. The criminal justice system should prepare juveniles to return to society, he said, not keep circling them back to incarceration. 

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