Tennessee’s juvenile lifers ‘have hope again’ after their sentences are ruled unconstitutional

Howard Atkins has spent the majority of his life in prison.

On a crackly call from Northeast Correctional Complex, the 38-year-old is soft spoken, and chooses his words carefully.

That caution has benefited him behind bars. In the decades he’s been incarcerated, he’s never gotten a write-up – despite the fact that he wasn’t sure he’d live to see the outside again.

“I just believed eventually it would matter,” Howard says.

Eventually arrived sooner than he expected.

Earlier this month, the Tennessee Supreme Court ruled that the state’s mandatory 51 year life sentence is unconstitutional. That means 122 incarcerated Tennesseans, including Howard, will be eligible for a parole hearing after serving 25 years of their sentences.

Tennessee’s attorney general could appeal the decision to the Supreme Court, though his office did not respond to request for comment.

Before the decision came down, Howard was looking at nearly 30 more years in prison.

Now – he may only be looking at only three.

“It’s an amazing feeling, just to have hope again,” Howard says.

That kind of hope is rare for Tennessee’s juvenile lifers. The state has the strictest mandatory sentence for juvenile homicide in the country.

“I never felt in my gut that it was going to stay at the 51,” Howard says. “But to actually see it happen was an amazing feeling.”

Howard’s early life was described by family as a different kind of prison.

His mother struggled with her mental health, and relied on him for protection in abusive relationships, like with his stepdad.

The abuse kept escalating, and his stepdad threatened to kill his mom. One night, Howard killed his stepdad with a baseball bat.  

“While the crime itself is a horrible tragedy,” Howard says, “It’s also a horrible tragedy to see that child redeem their life and repent for that crime they committed, but then not to give that child a second chance and to leave them incarcerated…it’s basically another death.”

Tennessee Lookout’s Anita Wadhwani contributed to this report. Read her story about Howard at tenesseelookout.com.