TBA Law Blog


Posted by: Stacey Shrader Joslin on Mar 17, 2022

Former Gov. Bill Haslam and criminal justice reform advocate Cyntoia Brown-Long have forged an unlikely friendship in the years since he granted her clemency. This week, they both expressed support for criminal justice reform, particularly for juvenile offenders, while speaking at “Reform for Redemption” hosted by the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy. Brown-Long, who as a teenage was convicted of killing her trafficker, has become a national figure. During the event Haslam said, “My viewpoint [after] peering into the judicial system is we have too many people serving too long. We have too many juveniles serving too long.” He also said he waited too long to consider clemency cases as governor and ultimately ran out of time. "It was a big mistake ... a lot more cases" deserved review. Axios Nashville has more from the event or watch a recording of the program.