Free Cytonia Brown

Update: Since writing this blog, the governor of Tennessee has been reviewing her case. There is a great chance of clemency for her next year!

Each year over 1,000 children are arrested for prostitution in the United States according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics. Many advocates for this cause believe, that in many cases, those children are the true victims. So, if this is true, then why is Cytonia Brown in prison for life?

At the age of sixteen, Cytonia Brown was convicted of first-degree murder and aggravated robbery in the killing of a man who hired her as a prostitute. Now, after being locked up in a Tennessee prison for thirteen years, her story has re-entered the spotlight thanks to celebrities who have posted on social media, #FreeCytoniaBrown. An online petition urging the governor of Tennessee for clemency for Cytonia has already received more than 4,000 signatures.

I ask again, why is Cytonia Brown in prison for life? Because, when she was tried and convicted, she was done so as an adult. Never has she denied killing Johnny Mitchell Allen, but think for just one moment. If you were a girl who was abused and raped multiple times, forced to work as a prostitute, shown a gun collection by the victim, wouldn't you be quick to protect yourself when he acts weird after the sexual encounter?

The laws have changed changed since Cytonia was sentenced. If she were arrested today, she would not be charged as a prostitute, but as a young girl who was a victim of sex trafficking. She would have been released at the age of 19. The Supreme Court ruled in 2010 that mandatory life sentences for juveniles without the possibility of parole or automatic review are unconstitutional. But this does not apply o Cytonia's case. The law in Tennessee requires an automatic review of life sentences of 51 years. WT_? So, if you kill someone in self defense and are a victim yourself, you will always remain a victim? I guess so in Tennessee. The state of Tennessee has 183 prisoners serving life sentences who were convicted as adults when they were only children.

I wonder if Tennessee knows or even cares that twenty other states have passed laws granting trafficked children immunity for other crimes, and twenty states have laws that clear criminal records of these victims. I am most certain they do because just recently they changed their laws about charging children under the age of eighteen as adults. But once again, this does not apply to Cytonia.

According to the state of Tennessee, Cytonia was a sex worker and therefore has no claim to self-defense. Wow, that must mean that every john who encounter as a prostitute is going to be true blue and not possibly abuse you, kill you, or even rape you. Thank you Tennessee for making women feel safe.

If and when Cytonia is released from prison, it will either be as an old woman or because the governor of Tennessee decided to have mercy and grant her clemency. Still today, those who tried and convicted her as a murderer say she was never a victim!