WHO WILL SPEAK FOR KAREN BROWN? PART 2 IN A SERIES THE KENTUCKY PAROLE BOARD

Karen Brown given a Life Sentence With the Possibility of Parole in 1986. The Kentucky Parole Board re-sentenced her to Death (by incarceration) in 2021, despite an impeccable institutional record, completion of over 100 programs, volunteer work, seven advanced degrees funded by supporters, numerous letters of support, leading the prison music ministry and worship for decades now.

February 17, 2025

A VOICE LOCKED AWAY FOR NEARLY 40 YEARS #KyFreeKarenBrown

I met Karen Brown 40 years ago. We were both 21-year-old "butch" lesbians having dropped out of college in smaller Kentucky towns searching for self, purpose and belonging. Both in Lexington crossing paths multiple times in an underground culture involving alcohol, drugs, bars and softball. It was 1985 and "family" wasn't just a code word, it was all some of us had. What happened to Karen could've been any of us...charged with capital murder in one of Lexington's most sensationalized cases.

A star athlete and exceptional student having no prior record, Karen arrived at KCIW to pay her debt, with the entire population lined up for her arrival! Quickly immersing herself in programming, Karen became a staple to the institution. Completing over 100 programs including a master's in Christian counseling, leading music ministry over a quarter century and volunteering in time and artwork to numerous programs including prison hospice, where Karen fears she will one day die. Sleeping under only a gray fleece blanket, Karen has refused for 4 decades to get under the covers as that would signify, she was at home. With only 1 ticket during her entire incarceration to date, for which she congratulated a peer with a kiss for receiving a pardon from the governor. This single non-violent institutional ticket was received by Karen more than a decade prior to her last Parole Board appearance.

At that time Karen was given a "serve-out" by the Kentucky Parole Board. This move by the Kentucky Parole Board effectively granted themselves the power, which THEY DO NOT HAVE, to change her sentence from Life With the Possibility of Parole after 25 years to serve out the rest of her natural life as a prisoner: Death by Incarceration.

Continuing to live as her faith dictates, Karen exemplifies restorative justice. According to a recent report from The Sentencing Project, A Matter of Life: The Scope & Impact of Life & Longterm Imprisonment in the United States, Kentucky has a disproportionately higher than average number of people in its prison system who will be incarcerated until they die, compared to the number of crimes committed. Recently Chief Judge Rowan Wilson, in his support of Second Look legislation in another state cited the parsimony principle which references imposing punishment that is sufficient but not greater than necessary is in order to accelerate the end of punitive excess sentencing practices. Anything less would be blind to the possibility that people would change. This principle is applicable here as well and perhaps notable for a Who Will Speak For Karen Brown? Part 3 in a Series for Second Look legislation needed in the Commonwealth!

We need to be able to review outdated sentencing practices and utilize evidence-based practices to begin to provide fair and just sentencing practices. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, the U.S. accounts for 4% of the world's female population but over 30% of the world's incarcerated females. For a look at the Global Context (2018), with the rate of incarceration for women, Kentucky continues to rank at the top of the World at 241 (per 100,000) if it were a stand-alone country.

This week marks Karen's 61st birthday. Who will speak for Karen Brown? We should all speak for Karen Brown and anyone else like her. We should speak on the abusive powers the Kentucky Parole Board has taken on themselves with absolutely no oversight. A judge and jury decided NOT to sentence Karen Brown to death in 1986. The Kentucky Parole Board decided otherwise, decades later, despite her institutional record, and with all her accomplishments and contributions.

Outdated draconian sentencing practices with little to no options for a safety valve is costing Kentucky and the citizens of the Commonwealth.

Kentucky's Public Safety and Offender Accountability Act, commonly known as House Bill 463 (HB463)/KRS 532.007 Commonwealth's Sentencing Policy establishes that the primary objective of sentencing is to maintain public safety and hold offenders accountable while reducing recidivism and criminal behavior and improving outcomes for those offenders who are sentenced.

It also clearly states that "the results of a defendant's risk and needs assessment included in the presentence investigation; and the likely impact of a potential sentence on the reduction of the defendant's potential future criminal behavior; all supervision and treatment programs provided for defendants shall utilize evidence-based practices to reduce the likelihood of future criminal behavior". Karen Brown has been a model for how rehabilitation can occur and thrive under some of the most challenging of circumstances.

Exploiting public fear for political gain only reinforces stereotypes and significantly targets marginalized populations. Perhaps this was true in My Old Kentucky Home, but it has no place in today's New Kentucky Home! The inconsistencies on who the Kentucky Parole Board is granting conditional releases to, is not only costing tax-payers money (over $47,000 to incarcerate at Ky Correctional Institution for Women, according to the Ky Dept of Corrections own 'Cost to Incarcerate-F24 Report) but it is also depriving a clearly rehabilitated woman who is no threat to public safety a second chance to give back to her community.

Karen has never denied having made poor choices as a 21-year-old emerging adult and has continued to accept her responsibility for the involvement in a horrific tragedy she was present for. When the Kentucky Parole Board grants conditional freedom to those who have clearly questionable behaviors both inside and outside carceral settings and continue to imprison the likes of Karen Brown, clearly, it's time the Kentucky Parole Board has a long overdue need for oversight and education in what authority it does carry.

To be clear, the Kentucky Parole Board falls under the Executive Branch of Kentucky State Government which enforces laws; The Legislative Branch creates the legislation that become the laws which are enforced by the Executive Branch. The Judicial Branch includes the imposition of sentence performed by sentencing courts. The function of sentencing courts is to impose a sentence upon each offender that is appropriate to the offense and the offender. The jury's role in a criminal trial should not extend to determination of the appropriate sentence.

Death by incarceration for anyone convicted of murder for a death they did not commit is cruel and unusual punishment in any state, particularly when it is clear rehabilitation and restorative justice has occurred. Justice is not just about punishment, but about rehabilitation and second chances. The Kentucky Parole Board has proven to be suspect at best with regards to who they allow to walk beyond the razor wires or provide a second, third or fourth chance to. I'm not so sure they comprehend the three branches of government or what authority is granted to each. Returning citizens bring perspective and wisdom to their communities that need it most. Our country is a country built on the promise of second chances. Our #NewKyHome needs #KyFreeKarenBrown.

 "We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today.

 We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now".

 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

"Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better."

-Maya Angelou