TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Azya Thornton on Sep 13, 2024

A new Tennessee Inmate Disciplinary Oversight Board is taking shape two years after it was formed in the wake of the abduction and murder of Memphis school teacher Eliza Fletcher. The state legislature created the board in 2022 in response to the murder, alleged to have been committed by Cleotha Abston, who had been released from prison in 2020 after serving 19 years of a 24-year sentence for kidnapping and robbery. The board, modeled after the state's Board of Parole, will review sentence credits for good behavior and determine if credits should be revoked for infractions. Previously, each county reviewed these issues without state oversight. The nine-member board will be chaired by Vanessa Murtaugh, who previously was a prosecutor in the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office. According to the Daily Memphian, while some legislators see this as a step towards preventing similar tragedies, others question the board's $2 million annual cost and qualifications of its members.