Susan Brown was thirty weeks pregnant when her estranged husband attacked her. She says he beat her, raped her, and stabbed her in the stomach. She fought back. She woke in a hospital bed with a baby born devastatingly premature, and learned her ex-husband was dead.

Susan was charged with first degree murder. The law that now protects Michigan women defending themselves during a sexual assault did not exist in 2004. She was sentenced to life without parole.

Twenty years on, Susan is an internationally exhibited artist, a mentor, a conflict mediator, and a leading voice for second look legislation in her state. A clemency package was submitted to Governor Whitmer in August 2022. Her 2024 commutation hearing did not result in release.

In this check in, I catch up with Susan on life inside Huron Valley, where her case sits now, and the hope she still carries for Governor Whitmer's final term in office.

If you would like to support Susan, letters to the Governor's office make a real difference.

Write to Governor Gretchen Whitmer, P.O. Box 30013, Lansing, Michigan 48909, USA. Reference MDOC

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