If Terri Lee Brown didn鈥檛 finally have it all last winter, it seemed at least close.
She had spent over four years in Oregon鈥檚 , Coffee Creek Correctional Facility, for mail theft but was let out early in 2020 during the COVID pandemic, one of nearly 1,000 prisoners former Governor Kate Brown commuted to protect those with health conditions. Brown has the lung disease COPD.
It was a rough start for her when she was released.
鈥淲hen I got out in the middle of COVID, it was very, very hard to navigate. The world had changed so much,鈥� says Brown. 鈥淵ou couldn't go anywhere or do anything and finding a job was hard.鈥�
Being a convicted felon didn鈥檛 help in her job hunt. But eventually Brown got on her feet. She was working nights at a hotel and studying to get her associates degree during the day. She rented a house in Grants Pass with her children.
One afternoon, in February, she had just returned home from running errands with her daughter.
鈥淎nd next thing I hear, 鈥楳iss Brown, come out, come out with your hands up!鈥� And I went out and there was like three officers in my yard,鈥� Brown recalls. 鈥淎nd they're telling me to put my hands behind my back.鈥�
She was confused and scared. She asked why she was being arrested and the police said mail theft. Memories of those years in prison flooded back.
鈥淚 looked over at my daughter and she just had this look in her eyes, like such disappointment at me. It broke my heart and I started crying because at this point I don't know what's going on,鈥� she says.
She told her daughter to grab her certificate of parole which she had proudly hung up in their house. But it didn鈥檛 help. She was sent back to prison. It took days for her to learn why she was there.
The current governor, Tina Kotek, had revoked the previous governor鈥檚 commutation of Brown鈥檚 sentence.
鈥淭erri had never been provided any notification, no letter from the governor's office saying that her clemency had been revoked or the basis for which the revocation occurred,鈥� says Bobbin Singh with the Oregon Justice Resource Center. That organization eventually took Brown鈥檚 case to the Oregon Supreme Court.
They learned that the governor had asked for lists from local district attorneys of those who had violated the conditions of their release after their sentence was commuted.
This was during a time when was building for action after some of those released during COVID went on to commit new crimes. Jesse Lee Calhoun, one of those let out early, has been charged with the deaths of three women near Portland. Although a study last year by the shows those commuted during COVID were slightly less likely to commit a new crime compared to those released normally.
In Washington County, where Brown was first paroled, the district attorney sent a note to the governor letting her know that Brown had left the state without permission and committed assault.
Brown admits to not following the conditions of her release early on and that she was sanctioned for that. She calls it a slipup. But she was never prosecuted for that assault. And she went on to complete her parole. She did her time.
鈥淓ven a superficial review of Terri and her life when they did the revocation, which was two years after that sanction, I think anybody would have said it would have been nonsense to put her back into prison,鈥� says Singh.
The governor's office refused a request for comment on this story.
By Singh鈥檚 count, the governor revoked over 120 commutations. He still doesn鈥檛 know what criteria the governor used in those decisions.
If those revocations were made just from the lists provided by the DAs, then Singh says that could misjudge cases like Brown鈥檚 鈥� messy and not easily summed up by court records or notes from prosecutors.
鈥淚f she鈥檚 just rubber stamping it, that鈥檚 problematic鈥� The DAs are providing information but I think not all of it is accurate, it needs to be confirmed,鈥� says Singh.
The Oregon Justice Resource Center challenged Governor Kotek鈥檚 authority to revoke commutations made by a previous governor, which would effectively mean that, anytime in the future, a governor could cancel legally ordered releases. Surprisingly to Singh, the state actually fought to keep Brown in prison. But the Supreme Court in May, saying that her "imprisonment is unlawful." Singh says that ruling could apply to others.
鈥淚t seems like a lot of cases are factually indistinguishable and that Terri's case, the Supreme Court case, would probably require some sort of relief for most, if not all those individuals in some way,鈥� says Singh.
Brown was released from prison, again, in May. But that life she was building, which seemed so close just last winter, has receded.
鈥淵ou know, I shouldn't be in this position. I put myself in a position where I was okay. I'm not okay no more,鈥� says Brown. 鈥淚'm barely holding on to my house with my kids.鈥�
While she was in prison, her daughter had to work to help pay the bills so they could keep their home. Brown says the short-staffed prison where she was sent messed up her medication. She鈥檚 struggled with her health since getting out.
鈥淪till to this day nobody has reached out to me to apologize for what they did,鈥� says Brown.
She doesn鈥檛 have the money for school right now but wants to head back eventually. Her life鈥檚 messy. And once again not easily summed up by court records and statements from prosecutors 鈥� but finally getting better again.
