Norman Brown spent 31 years in prison after being convicted of first-degree murder when he was 17, though he never killed anyone.

After his release in 2018 thanks to a lawsuit against the state, Brown has spent his time fighting to make sure others have the same opportunity he had.

Brown, and other people he became close with in prison, come to Jefferson City to speak out against legislation that would restrict the possibility of parole.

“These people have made mistakes, that’s true, but it’s come to a point where it’s over-incarceration and we’ve over-incarcerated an entire population,” Brown said.

Brown spent time in prison rehabilitating himself in order to have an opportunity for release, and immediately upon his release from prison, gave back to the community he was from and the community where he was incarcerated.

He had saved up over $1,500 worth of toiletries and split the boxes in half, donating half to a battered women’s shelter in Bowling Green, Missouri, and the other half to another shelter in St. Louis.

“I wanted my first moments out of prison to be spent helping people,” Brown recalled in an interview with the Missourian.

From there, he worked to reintegrate himself into society by opening up a bank account and depositing money, got his driver’s license, and formed an LLC. He works on rehabbing houses and flipping them for a profit now, which Brown says has been like living his dream.

Though he isn’t a full time activist or lobbyist, Brown said he spends some of his free time at the Capitol because he believes in the reformation of the justice system. He focuses his time specifically on people in prison who were convicted to life without parole as a juvenile.

Brown began his activism while still incarcerated, and was the named defendant in Brown v. Precythe, the court case that allowed for his release. This court case, which made its way to the federal Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals, forced Missouri to align with federal guidelines on juveniles convicted to life without parole.

The court challenge came after the Supreme Court decided in Miller v. Alabama that “children are constitutionally different from adults for sentencing purposes,” based on the Eighth Amendment that prohibits cruel and unusual punishment. The case was decided in 2012, and Missouri failed to comply with this new ruling.

Though the Missouri Parole Board began hearings for those who fit the criteria after the ruling, almost every case was denied prior to Brown vs. Precythe. The federal appeals court ruled that the parole board must provide “meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on demonstrated maturity and rehabilitation.”

“The seriousness of the crime wasn’t to be the central factor here … there’s the day that crime happened, no one can go back in time and change that moment,” Brown said, speaking about the parole board hearings.

This court case cleared the way for the majority of those convicted as juveniles to life without parole to be released based on their rehabilitation efforts. Still, there are many that have not been released because they either were denied and had to wait an additional five years to be seen again or hadn’t served 15 years of their sentence.

A bill introduced by Sen. Mike Bernskoetter, R-Jefferson City, would make it harder for those still in prison to be granted parole.

Currently, if a person was convicted as a juvenile, meaning they were under 18 at the time the crime was committed, and they were sentenced to life without parole, they are eligible for parole after serving 15 years.

Bernskoetter’s bill has passed the Senate is on the calendar in the House. People who have been convicted of first degree murder are ineligible for parole under these circumstances, and the bill would also make those convicted of second degree murder ineligible. This would only apply to those convicted as juveniles.