Fifteen years into a 51-year sentence, Cyntoia Brown will officially be released on parole in August. In the eyes of many activists, politicians, and celebrities, as well as millions of regular citizens, this freedom was granted much too late for a girl retaliating in an act of self-defence.
Arguments are constantly made about the technicalities of the incident. Was it self-defence? Or, was it just plain murder? In answering that question, you have to attack the system in which she was tried—a system that supports the abuser, rather than the victim.
Throughout Brown’s trial, the court found it just to label a child, who was sold into sex work and had disorders such as fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), as an adult. Yet, she was also contradictingly called a teenage prostitute in official court transcripts.
In addition to this, the Supreme Court of the United States had previously decided that life sentences could not be granted to juveniles. In Tennessee, where Brown was tried, laws state that children under 18 could not be tried for prostitution. The fact is, Brown was a child tried as an adult.
Over a decade after the trial, Brown’s case attracted the attention of celebrities such as Rihanna and Kim Kardashian-West, and ignited outrage among people in the United States. Since sentencing laws in Tennessee have since been altered, today Brown would receive a different sentence if tried. In official transcripts, Brown was referred to as a “teen prostitute.” Rather, she should and would have been considered a child sex slave—a victim.
Brown is not the only victim of a broken American justice system. Rather, she is one of thousands. In the U.S., white males are found guilty of rape and get no more than three months in prison, all the while a Black teenage girl who kills her abuser in an act of self-defence is handed life in prison. The U.S. judicial system was built on the grounds of damaging people of colour, especially Black women.
What makes Brown special is the worldwide recognition of her case. But Brown’s case was no different from the thousands of other cases that involve victims of this judicial system. Thousands of women are serving sentences for crimes that they committed as children, but none of them have received the recognition that Brown has.
Social media has allowed for some insight into the broken American justice system, but it doesn’t regard the thousands of others that do not receive the recognition that Brown has.
Her long-overdue release resulted from the fact that she became a hashtag, that she was accessible to everyone everywhere. Her 15 seconds of fame allowed her to seek the justice that she deserves.
Brown’s story does not stop with her release in August. The U.S. judicial system is in great need of reinvention. Instead of using our phones to tweet about the next meal we are having or the great weather in Bora Bora, it is time to use social media, which has proven to impact the outcomes of cases, to help free those that are victims to the system.
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Image from files
