Madison Amos Practical Law Juvenile Justice Systems Project 2/7/2018 Cyntoia Brown Cyntoia is a 30 year old American, who was born on January 29,1988. When she was 16 years of age, she was sentenced to life in prison. When Cyntoia was 2 years old her biological mother, Georgina Mitchell, gave her up for adoption. When her mother was pregnant she continued to consume alcohol, which possibly resulted in fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Georgina began using crack cocaine when Cyntoia was 8 months old, after that Cyntoia was given up to Ellenette Brown. Cyntoia, as you can tell, did not have much of a motherly figure until she was put with Ellenette Brown.Cyntoia had not had much sufficient stability in her life, by 2004 she was a runaway. When …show more content…
Cyntoia was 16, she had came upon many rapes, assaults before or during sex and most of the time under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.Cyntoia states that several days before the killing she had been raped repeatedly and on drugs (Hayes). Cyntoia was evaluated at the Juvenile Detention center in Nashville, Tennessee.
She said that she went to Sonic, the fast-food restaurant, and a white truck came up to her and the man in the truck asked her out, so they ordered take out and she tried to get him to go to the nearest hotel but he refused and said she must come to his house instead. Cyntoia stated that he kept talking about how he was the top shooter and how girls only want him for his money. He stated shortly after that how he just wants to be loved and not used for his “money”. Cyntoia goes on to say that no one knew where she was at the time. Cyntoia claims that she felt like if she tried to leave, he would not allow her to. She later on stated that he reached under the bed to grab something and that she panicked thinking he was going to grab a gun so her first instinct was to shoot him first! Immediately after she shot him, all these thoughts came to her brain like a flood : What just happened? Is he bleeding? Is he okay? Did i shoot him? (Me Facing Life The Cyntoia Brown Documentary). Cyntoia didn’t know what just happened. She did what she thought was needed. What if she did not shoot him and he shoot her instead? Maybe he was not going to shoot her and she just got scared we shall never know but what is done, is …show more content…
done. Cyntoia’s case went viral on social media even thought she had already been in jail for more than 10 years. A list of celebrities started a viral hashtag, #FreeCyntoiaBrown. According to CNN News, it is unclear why Cyntoia Brown story came back into the spotlight, but we do now that a text post describing browns history and trail apperapered, to created a chaos when it was shared by the singer songwriter Rihanna on instagram. Rihanna”s post said, “Imagine at the age of 16 being sex-trafficked by a pimp named ‘kutthroat’. After days of being repeatedly drugged and raped by different men, she was purchased by a 43 year old child predator, named Johnny Allen, who took you to his home to use you for sex, You ending up finding enough courage to fightback and shoot and kill him” (Alund). I agree with exactly with Rihanna said, what if she didn't kill him and he went on and found more children to prey on. I believe that Cyntoia Brown did the world a huge favor. In the end, Cyntoia’s trial inspired a documentary and was a huge factor in a major change in how the state of Tennessee deals with child prostitution cases.
In my honest opinion I believe the system has truly failed. It is heartbreaking to see a 16 year old girl suffer through sex-trafficking and when she finally has enough courage to fight back, she is put into jail for the rest of her life. America has to do better than this and fight back. We say we want to make “American great again”, then let’s start by making smarter choices. Works Cited Alund, Natalie Neysa. “#FREECYNTOIABROWN Goes Viral Following Rihanna's Instagram Post.” The Tennessean, The Tennessean, 21 Nov. 2017, www.tennessean.com/story/news/2017/11/21/freecyntoiabrown-goes-viral-rihanna-kimkardashian/884742001/. Hayes , Christal. “Prosecutor in Cyntoia Brown's Case .” Newsweek, 27 Nov. 17AD, www.newsweek.com/prosecutor-who-helped-keep-cyntoia-brown-prison-quit-after-case-720324. Jacobs, Tom. “Me Facing Life: Cyntoia's Story - Review of PBS Documentary.” Pacific Standard, 25 Feb. 2011, psmag.com/social-justice/life-in-prison-begins-at-16-27624. V, Rani, director. Me Facing Life The Cyntoia Brown Documentary. Me Facing Life The Cyntoia Brown Documentary, 22 Nov. 17AD,
www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1826&v=tE5pX3twcyM.
Neither Conover nor Santos paints a favorable picture of conditions within prison. In particular, Santos description of violence within prison shows a very disturbing setting for people to live. Santos describes a daily fight to remain safe and alive. ...
It all began when Piper Kerman just graduated from college with no direction in her life. During this time she met Nora, a sophisticated lesbian who Piper had a peculiar infatuation with. Nora told Piper about the extravagant life she lived because of her involvement with a West African drug lord dealing heroin. Since Kerman had nothing better planned for her life, she decided to join the business since Nora had cajoled her into it. Her role consisted of smuggling drug money for the operation, once moving over ten thousand dollars from Chicago to Brussels. This careless act that seemed innocuous to Kerman at the time ultimately landed Piper in jail on charges of money laundering in conspiracy with drug traffick...
Erin G., 2010, A Woman Doing Life: Notes from a Prison for Women: The Southwest Journal of Criminal Justice. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010. Pp. vi, 202, Vol. 8(2)175.
Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). Revisiting the Sanford Prison Experiment: A lesson in the power of
“Human trafficking coerces and persuades their victims to cross national borders in search of new jobs and better opportunities and after that they are forced into some sort of labor bondage” (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1). Even though trafficking is a problem in almost every country; poorer countries have a bigger problem with it because they are more desperate for work. Just in 2000, the U.S. enacted their first federal anti-trafficking law, called the Victims of Trafficking Protection Act (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1). Trafficking has just begun to receive notice on how big of a problem it actually is. “Proponents of strict anti-trafficking initiatives say that laws and prevention against trafficking are necessary in order to stem the growing tide of large scale organized crime that profits off of smuggling and trafficking” (At Issue: Human Trafficking 1).
Most American citizens, if asked, would say that sex trafficking is an issue that happens on foreign land, not here in America. Many American’s believe that slavery was abolished years ago, but modern day slavery is happening in this country and internationally every day right under our noses. The startling fact, is that sex trafficking happens within our borders, and in our very own towns at a much higher rate than anyone would imagine. Sex trafficking occurs when people, usually women and children, are coerced into the sex trade against their will (TVPA, 2013). Many traffickers target weak, vulnerable people who come from low socioeconomic backgrounds and have a history of abuse; however anyone can potentially be trafficked (The Polaris Project, 2014). Many traffickers lure their prey in with false promises of love, money, or security, and then the victims are instead faced with lies, debt bondage, violence, physical and mental manipulation, and abuse (The Polaris Project, 2014). In today’s world many of our social issues, such as human trafficking, are made worse by the general lack of education, resources, and information available to the public and to victims. I propose a policy that will help 180 Turning Lives Around provide comprehensive and much needed services to victims of sex trafficking, as well as educate the community and law enforcement officials in order to help end modern day slavery in America.
Some governments still don’t have any laws that ban this evil and it is not good for people who suffer from it as it runs rampant in those countries. The places that need the government's help with this the most, have governments that are failing to protect them. The UN Chronicle says that the only way to end sex trafficking and give these victims the closure they deserve is the “prosecution of traffickers and protection of victims”(UN Chronicles). It is not the girls fault and if these traffickers are punished and made an example of, it could discourage others from following this dark path and this will mitigate and eventually end sex trafficking. Some countries don’t persecute the traffickers, or they do very little to punish them and this needs to change to eliminate sex trafficking. When some countries are “lagging behind with no counter-trafficking laws at all”(Jesionka), this prevents people who are held captive from getting the justice they deserve in some parts of the world. If the world worked together to eliminate this, the countries that are exploited for this trade would keep their people safer. The countries need to take on these traffickers if there is going to be any difference in this modern slavery. Not enough is being done to catch and punish these criminals and this is a giant problem. When others can actually see the problem, their governments
For decades, prison has been signified as an unspeakably horrifying place for those who have done harm to our society. Nevertheless, in today 's society, shows like Wentworth, orange is the new black and prison break illustrate prison in an entertaining way. A way that is so detached from reality. However, in the article "Norway 's Ideal Prison," by Piers Hernu, he clearly reveals and gives us a vivid picture of what prison life is like in Bastoy, the home of Norway only prison. On the other hand, "The Prisoners Dilemma," by Stephan Chapman argues how in Islamic countries criminals are being cruelly handled and how flawed the American penal system is and needs to be adjusted. Even though there are many similarities in both articles on what
She knew her mistake and what she had done. But she says she continues to fight for her freedom everyday and that her case will be reviewed again. She may of broke down and cried, but who wouldn’t? All she wants for her mom to move on from everything and live her own life. Cynotia wants to serve her time and get out.
Through two metal, cold doors, I was exposed to a whole new world. Inside the Gouverneur Correctional Facility in New York contained the lives of over 900 men who had committed felonies. Just looking down the pathway, the grass was green, and the flowers were beautifully surrounding the sidewalks. There were different brick buildings with their own walkways. You could not tell from the outside that inside each of these different buildings 60 men lived. On each side, sharing four phones, seven showers, and seven toilets. It did not end there, through one more locked metal door contained the lives of 200 more men. This life was not as beautiful and not nearly as big. Although Gouverneur Correctional Facility was a medium security prison, inside this second metal door was a high wired fence, it was a max maximum security prison. For such a clean, beautifully kept place, it contained people who did awful, heart-breaking things.
Pettit, Becky, and Bruce Western. "Incarceration & Social Inequality." Daedalus 139.3 (2010): 8+. Literature Resource Center. Web. 15 May 2014.
Wilson, Rick. "The Growing Problems of the Prison System." American Friends Service Committee. American Friends Service Committee, 27 Nov. 2012. Web. 11 Apr. 2014. .
One reason why human trafficking is a serious crime that many people are unaware of is because it secretly takes place in the United States. Between 2007 and 2012, there were reports of 9,298 different cases of human trafficking (Polaris Project). An example of how unknown this topic is is that 41% of sex trafficking cases and 20% of labor trafficking cases were proven to have United States citizens as victims (Polaris Project). And this is only what we know so far. There are thousands of cases that we don’t know about. Many people also don’t know that men, women, and even children are also taken hostage by human traffickers. An example of this would be that out of those 9,298 cases that were reported, women were victims of sex trafficking in 85% of those cases. Men were victims of labor trafficking in 40% of those cases (Polaris Project). Approximately 300,000 children are at risk of being prostituted in the United States (U.S. Department of Justice). Children are even more under the radar than we know about. On average, one in three teenagers on the street will be lured toward prostitution within 48 hours of leaving their home (National Runaway Hotline). For example, two female friends who were minors ran away from home and were prom...
Throughout the years, the traffickers have found loopholes to the laws and continue to traffick humans. They never stopped trafficking humans despite the many attempts to stop it. Trafficking is a problem but, it is a problem that can not accurately be charted. Sallie Yea (2010) states, “It is hard to know exactly how big the problem of human trafficking is since it is a clandestine activity; trafficked persons are usually described as ‘hidden populations’ meaning that they are kept out of sight in inaccessible locations” (p. 2). As of right now we may not know how many people are being trafficked but we know it is happening. it has gone on long enough that we have to do something to try and stop human trafficking. Thousands of people are being trafficked each year that no one knows about, and frankly will never know about. The traffickers are getting to the point where they can go almost completely undetected when trafficking humans across the borders. Human trafficking is an ever evolving issue that we may never
Visualize a young girl about eleven years old, handcuffed to a bed in a brothel and forced to provide pleasure to many men in one night. Also, visualize this young girl living in horrible needy circumstances, after many deceitful promises of a better and healthier life. Now, imagine this girl is your own child, sister or relative. How does that feel? These are such unpleasant and horrid thoughts, but these actions are very common in the United States and throughout the world. Everyday, young girls are exploited and used to satisfy adult sexual desires without feeling guilty or ashamed. Child prostitution is a major public concern in the United States and it must stop.