Outgoing Republican Gov. Bill Haslam on Monday quietly issued his decision on Cyntoia Brown, who says she was a sex-trafficking victim. However, the news quickly spread, thrilling criminal justice advocates, celebrities and other supporters who had been fighting for years to help Brown, 30.
“Thank you Gov. Bill Haslam for your decision to grant clemency to Cyntoia Brown,” said U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a newly elected Democrat from New York, in a tweet. “We must reform our criminal justice system so that cases like Cyntoia’s don’t happen. Until then, it is up to leaders across the country with the moral compass to make decisions like these.”
Law enforcement officials had opposed clemency, arguing Brown was not justified in killing a 43-year-old man who authorities said had paid to have sex with her. The governor’s office received an estimated 100,000 phone calls and emails from supporters pleading for mercy.
The governor’s decision was widely praised by Democrats and advocacy groups, and criticism from Tennessee Republicans was almost nonexistent.
But Haslam, who is considering a run for a U.S. Senate seat in 2020, has downplayed the effect Brown’s lengthy and complicated case may have on his future political career. He told the Tennessee Journal just hours after publicizing his decision that he isn’t going to analyze any possible impact until he leaves office Jan. 19 and GOP Gov.-elect Bill Lee takes over.
“Obviously there’s a lot of people who think it’s the greatest thing ever and some people who will be upset,” Haslam said. “I think you’ve got to shove all that aside.”