Cyntoia Brown: National Legal Groups Join Appeal to Free woman Sentenced to Life at 16

"Cyntoia's sentence is wholly disproportionate for a 16-year-old girl, and therefore unconstitutional," said Marsha Levick, deputy director and chief counsel for Juvenile Law Center, which also joined the amicus brief.

The amicus brief notes that U.S. Supreme Court decisions have said in most cases a sentence of life imprisonment for juveniles is unconstitutional. The Tennessee Court of Criminal Appeals has already ruled against that argument in Brown's case, noting that her sentence is not entirely for life, since she will have the possibility of parole after 51 years."