In Tennessee, a life sentence has meant serving a minimum of 51 years behind bars, even for people convicted as juveniles.
Teens allege abuse and neglect inside a state-run juvenile detention facility in West Tennessee
Disability Rights Tennessee uncovered allegations from teenage boys in their visits to the Wilder Youth Development Center in West Tennessee since September of 2020. In a report released Wednesday, the group says it found violations of both state and federal laws.
Hundreds of Tennesseans who received lengthy prison sentences for selling drugs near schools could go home early
Decades ago, Tennessee created drug-free school zone laws to deter people from selling drugs in places where children are likely to be. But now, the state is making adjustments for cases that don’t involve kids.
His mother and sister were murdered. He’s focused his grief on exposing loopholes that endanger domestic violence victims.
Alex Youn has spent the year since his mother and sister’s deaths trying to figure out what went wrong in their case. He discovered loopholes in the criminal justice system, and turned those loopholes into law to protect future domestic violence victims.
At the Statehouse: A precarious week for bills penalizing abortions, transgender athletes and the incarcerated
An abortion bill hits a dead end, a ban on transgender athletes in college is revived and a warning is issued over a criminal justice bill that could backfire.
‘People change’: Cyntoia Brown-Long wants Tennessee lawmakers to let people out of prison sooner, not later
Cyntoia Brown-Long was given a second chance after she was sentenced to life in prison as a teenager. She thinks others behind bars should get one, too.
On the verge of release, a West Tennessee man shares how he ‘kept hope alive’ while serving a life sentence
A 73-year-old Memphis man was meant to die in prison after receiving two life sentences under Tennessee’s so-called three strikes law for a set of armed robberies. God, he says, had other plans.
Tennessee lawmakers could make big changes to criminal sentences in 2022
Some want to make it easier for people to get out of prison. Others want to make it harder.
Tennessee’s governor is granting clemency to 17 people and paving the way for more in the future
Gov. Bill Lee is granting them clemency — and creating a process for many more to be released early from prison.
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