MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Editor's Note: Video above is from Feb. 2021.
Former Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam and Cyntoia Brown Long are joining together Tuesday for a special conversation on criminal justice reform.
Brown Long was released from prison in 2019 after serving 15 years for killing a man who solicited her for sex. Brown-Long and her supporters argued she acted in self-defense and was a victim of sex trafficking. While in prison, she also earned her GED, finished a bachelor's degree and mentored at-risk youth.
Former Governor Bill Haslam commuted her sentence in 2019, and the Tennessee House of Representatives passed legislation inspired by her case to protect victims of sex trafficking who are also minors.
The Vanderbilt Project on Unity & American Democracy is hosting Tuesday evening’s public conversation in Nashville between Brown Long and Haslam. Watch live at 6 p.m. CT HERE.
Organizers said the two will discuss “criminal justice reform and explore how the human/sex trafficking cycle entangles many victims, particularly minors, in the criminal justice system using her case and the Tennessee juvenile justice system as an example.”
--------------------------------------
WBIR contributed to this report.