How We Reported on Tennessee Life Sentences

Lina Portman2 weeks ago

1 2 minutes read

Debate is intensifying in Tennessee over how long people convicted of major crimes spend behind bars.

In 2022, for example, the Tennessee General Assembly passed a law known as Truth in Sentencing. The legislation requires people convicted of a certain number of crimes to serve 100 percent of their sentence, eliminating eligibility for parole for good behavior or programming credits.

The legislation was supported by Republican lawmakers who advocated a tougher stance on crime. But that plan has received bipartisan pushback outside the General Assembly from criminal justice reform groups and those concerned about the impact on prison operations, costs, rehabilitation and recidivism.

Gov. Bill Lee opposed parts of the bill and ultimately demanded concessions from legislative leaders.

This is just one example of the ongoing debate. But what about those who are already in prison, especially those serving life sentences? It's actually complicated.

Evan Mealins, who covers justice and courts issues for The Tennessean, explained why. Until recently, a life sentence generally meant that a person would spend their life in prison unless they were granted parole.

But a legal shake-up in recent years means those life sentences will one day end, whether or not the person gets parole, Evan reports. This could have far-reaching consequences, not only for the 1,828 people serving life sentences in Tennessee, but also for the prison system and the victims' families.

We asked Evan a few questions about his reporting.

How did you arrive at this story. And how did you go about reporting, given that some of the subjects are incarcerated??

Evan: I keep an eye on the court records. Some weeks, dozens of nearly identical lawsuits would be filed against the plaintiffs' life sentences. At first I was just curious about how these people communicated with each other and who came up with the original “model”. So I wrote them letters and asked them to call me or write me back, and I ended up with a very different story than I originally expected.

In your research, what have you learned about the impacts of uncertainty surrounding these sentences, particularly for those sentenced as juveniles? And what about the families of the victims?

Evan: It can really depend on the person, but the Booker decision allowing juveniles to be paroled as young as 25 was definitely seen as a positive development. I think, however, that among the general population, because these laws are quite ambiguous, there is a lot of confusion. This confusion also exists for the families of the victims. A victims' advocate said the fact that parole hearings are happening earlier than before has surprised some.

In the future, what legislative or regulatory measures are available to those in favor of conciliation or even simplification of the laws in question?

Evan: Honestly, I'm not entirely sure what options are available to the General Assembly. What the legislature cannot do, however, is retroactively make these life sentences harsher. A few years ago, there was an effort to make everyone serving a life sentence eligible for parole after 25 years. Currently this is only possible for minors and people convicted before 1995.

Lina Portman

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