The Sarah Kruzan Story
EDUTAINMENT By TC on October 20, 2009 at 4:27 pmPerhaps the biggest flaw in the judicial system is that law school cannot teach its students to differentiate between the vile and the victims. The case of Sarah Kruzan appears to be yet another one of those instances where rehabilitation is just a fancy word for “good riddance.”
Growing up with a drug addicted mother in California, Sarah Kruzan had the classic nightmarish childhood: abuse, rape, neglect — the usual suspects. Unsurprisingly, she trusted to a creep who claimed to have her best interests in mind, but eventually she killed him at the age of 16 years old. With the judge subsequently throwing the book at her like she had been around long enough to read it.
Why didn’t her back story come into play when evaluating her sentence? Why does the system pretend to hold certain individuals’ life in such high regard when they’re the plantiff when it’s the complete opposite as the defendant? And why couldn’t they see that they were committing a bigger homicide than what Ms. Kruzan admitted to?
Questions need answered before the problems are resolved.
For more information on the juvenile justice system, visit the National Center for Youth Law.
Posted in EDUTAINMENT, Videos — Tags: California, Life Sentence, Sarah Kruzan
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44 Comments
That’s very sad indeed, life without parole, she’s acknowledged her crime and the fact that she should be punished for this.
This clearly shows that she feels remorse for her actions, yet, the judge has deemed it fit to lock her away for life for actions she undertook when she was 16.
Murder is wrong, but have they fully taken into acount the circumstances that lead her to carry out her actions?
It’s also makes it sad, because you can tell from the video, that this is a very bright individual, yet she will probably never be given the chance to express this intelligence, fully emancipated.
The system is not impartial, and this is a clear example of a system flawed.
sad story. shows just how biased and fucked up the judicial system is. hopefully some good will come from her story being told. make a petition to get her time reduced or a pardon. this is all wishful thinking tho.
Damn this is just sad… The judges need to walk in some of these folks shoes…
isn’t moral scruples an oxymoron?
how about this, after trying to look up the facts of her case of 10 min., I found nothing. Her case is non-existent. Everything about her is the same stuff that she said in the video. Now that is most likely due to her being a minor but you would still think that
What i’m getting at is that she probably did get a somewhat extensive sentence but it would be hard to say that it is excessive unless you could find the fact about what happened. I mean, her story is definitively sad and emotional, and like i said i can see how life without parole is lot for her, but from some of the facts given you can see what the judge was going for.
She seems like an above average woman in regards to intelligence and she states that the judge said that her crime was “well thought out.” So that means that at some point, over these 3 years, she planned out some way to kill this guy and then just waited from the right moment to do so. Right there, the premeditation, is probably what did her in. If she had just snapped or was in some type of emotional situation at the point of the killing, her sentence would have been more favorable to here. But from what is said her, the judge probably worked off the idea that if you have time to plan out how to kill someone, his hold over you could not have been that great. Also, ignore the plus 4 years stuff.
Again, I’m not trying to defend the ruling, I just trying to show that this thing may not be as unjust as it seems when all you have is this video. With that said though, I’m pulling for her to get a retail and get off for either timed served or just a reduced sentence.
Crazy sad story, really makes you think about the society that we live in…
TC – great post.
smitty – I agree with some of the points you made.
She deserves a chance to live a productive & fulfilling life outside of prison.
I wish her the best.
Wow, that was deep…
Didn’t know SS brought it like that…
@smitty:
I agree with you. The crime was premeditated. But it was premeditated by a 16 year-old. What grasp does a 16 year-old girl, who has been under the hold of a man 20 years her senior for five years, have on reality? A lower sentence and some counseling would have remedied the situation.
for every Sarah Kruzan, there are thousands of young women who came up under the same circumstances who come out aight….no sympathy
The part that kills is not that she got life, as she committed a premeditated murder. {Like Dave Chappelle said.. How old is 16 really?}
My issue is the “without possibility of parole” It just seems ripe for a challenge to the Cruel and Unusual portion of the bill of rights.
Chick has already served 13+ years and not one lawyer has went after that part? Seems a shame.
And dayum she looks good.. Don’t act like you ain’t noticed.
That’s tough man… I am glad SS puts stuff like this on the site for people to read/watch. Sometimes you need to press pause on the Gucci Mane mixtape and remind yourself that there are people going through this shit all over the country and the world.
If she was white, she would be already free! smh Only in America
The good news for Sarah is that the United States Supreme Court will hear 2 cases on November 9th concerning the issue presented here – Is sentencing a juvenile to life without the possibility of parole cruel and unusual and in violation of the 8th Amendment? Depending on how the justices rule, Sarah may not be facing a life behind bars. For more on the cases pending before the Supreme Court, see http://askthejudge.info/is-a-life-sentence-for-a-13-year-old-cruel-unusual-punishment/562/#more-562
i can certainly say that as unfair as it is i do believe it was a race issue involved…im a student takin on 2 b an attorney or juvenile justice n race has n is still an issue when it comes 2 a verdict…n i totally disagree with johnny bc everyone handles things differently what others might have handled the situation one way does not entitle u 2 compare those people 2 what someone else has gone trough bc everyone doesn’t always see a way out n look at it like if i made it this far i can surely make it…she has been through a lot the short years she has been on this earth n people are spending more money trying to judge her rather than actually finding out if she can be helped…the justice system is garbage always has been and always will be until we as a nation shop judging so quickly on someone’s life off of a video or damn fox new or whatever news station you watch
I agree with Smitty, something doeesnt add up.. and my attempt to locate more details online have been unsucessful. I notice the word traffiking at one point, but again, no details… My heart pours out for her, but no judge is that insensitive, there is a lot more to this story than we are being told. I dont like be lead.
Thats why men need to step up and be fathers. Never would be a G.G. if there was a father around.
I don’t care how premeditated it was.
Any child who is being raped has the right to kill their attacker whenever and however they see fit. It is absolutely evil to stick up for a child rapist or pretend that killing him is wrong. If she had tortured him to death over the span of a month, she would still deserve a medal.
If we can’t see how much we owe this young woman not only for her ordeal and for this injustice, but also for the public service she did by killing that rapist, then America needs to brought low and shown what suffering is.
Our country is disintegrating because all of us have this kid’s blood and the blood of thousands of others like her on our hands. I’m not religious at all and I still know when a culture is ruled by evil.
I don’t care how premeditated it was.
A child has every right to defend herself against someone who rapes her. If Sarah had spent a month torturing him to death she would still deserve a medal. You don’t have the right to stick up for a child rapist or pretend that he has the right to live. The only thing that stopped him from snatching one of YOUR kids is the fact that this girl stood up for herself and took out the garbage.
If we can’t see that, then America has to be brought low and reminded what suffering is. This girl is a saint, and those of you who think you’re entitled to question her actions when she did all of us a favor are walking piles of excrement.
You know honestly I could careless HOW Sarah Kruzan killed that pimp. Simply, she was tried and sentenced as an adult at 16. Someone with moral scruples would not have sentenced a 16 year old to die in prison for killing a man that harmed her to being with. The system won’t hand down the death penalty because it is too severe. Severe for whom? (certainly not the criminal!) No blood on their hands when they just lock teens up and forget about them. But, instead Sarah has to endure life in prison until she dies. Can anyone here imagine spending their life from age 16 until they die in prison? Really think about that. That to me is much more severe of a punishment than the death penalty. So, I don’t care if she chopped that pimp into a million pieces, whether she planned it or not the fact that she was prostituted and raped at 13 (no one grows up saying I want to be a whore) and the fact that she was prostituted for 3 years with basically zero parental guidance justifies her lack of moral scruples. Aren’t we taught morals? Ummm Sarah Kruzan was taught morals from a pimp and a drug addicted mother and the same moral scruples that pimp bestowed upon Sarah were the same moral scruples that put him in the ground. I wonder how many people would be passing judgement if Sarah was their daughter? CLICK ON MY NAME TO GO TO THE FREE SARAH KRUZAN PETITION!!!
I don’t care how premeditated it was.
A child has every right to defend herself against someone who rapes her. If Sarah had spent a month torturing him to death she would still deserve a medal. You don’t have the right to stick up for a child rapist or pretend that he has the right to live. The only thing that stopped him from snatching one of YOUR kids is the fact that this girl stood up for herself and took out the garbage.
If we can’t see that, then America has to be brought low and reminded what suffering is. This girl is a saint, and those of you who think you’re entitled to question her actions when she did all of us a favor are walking piles of excrement.
Sara Kruzan is the only reason this GG never got his hands on YOUR daughters.
CLICK ON MY NAME TO GO TO THE FREE SARAH KRUZAN PETITION!!!
Stop the system from trying kids as adults. It might be your child sitting in jail for the rest of their lives from the age of 16. Think about that for a minute. She could have chopped him up in a million pieces, but she was not supposed to be tried as an adult.
Let’s not forget that morals are taught. Where did Sarah pick up her moral scruples, yeah from a drug addicted mother and a pimp!
Child can’t receive the death penatly because it is inhumane. But, it is not so inhumane to have a 16 and even younger (folks do your research) sit in jail for the rest of their lives? I find that more inhumane. Killing them would be easier for them, but no one wants the blood of children on their hands. No one wants to deal with the fallout of such a thing. But, it is okay to make a child spend their ENTIRE life in jail. Our system lacks moral scruples and those that are behind it!
Does anyone know what prison she is in or how I can contact her? Thanks!
IN MY OPINION THE WEAK ASS PIMP WAS KILLING HER DAILY FROM THE FIRST TIME HE SAW HER TIL HIS LAST MOMENT OF BREATH AND THIS YOUNG LADY HAS SERVED “MORE” THAN ENOUGH TIME IN PRISON FOR KILLING HIM!..
Wow! I’d love to write this person. Possibly write and publish her story so it could be read and heard around the world….
Author-Editor-Publisher
Nobody comes out of this situation “aight” Jhonnyutah. Everyone handles trauma differently it is not fair to put everyone with a similar situations in the same bucket!
“If she was white, she would be already free! smh Only in America”
Don’t be an idiot Kent. There are plenty of whites who have the
same situation. Yes.. life without parole, as a teen. Even death
row, ffs.
Wake up retard.
Dnt Let The Sad Word’s Get Mixed Up with What She did I new Her And That was my people she killed she was liveing with her dad in paris california and she was’nt even part of the team, she seen he had money took it upon her self to make a grown decision buy pulling that trigger and rideing on the pomona freeway like it was her’s took his money and left his body right where he laid!
This is the petion for Sarah K. I am going around leaving this at all the blogs that are doing this story.
http://criminaljustice.change.org/actions/view/support_freedom_of_trafficking_victim_sara_kruzan_2
Thank you for posting that Natalie…i was wondering what was going to be done and they need to get rid of these old white judges who obviousely don’t live in this century
I have an interesting take on this subject. Clearly an injustice but with whom does the fault lay?
http://politicalcartel.org/2009/11/02/inchoate-justice-should-we-reconsider-sarah-kruzan/
Whatever, who cares?! That’s life, deal with it; we are all gonna die sooner or later, and the world is gonna end in 2012-Mayans, Nostrodamus, Aztecs predicated this, ok people, so she is gonna die, boohoo, big deal, we are all gonna die soon.
nigga’s wake up! you do a crime you gonna pay.
I have no sympathy for her. I grew up under the same conditions and chose not to go the same route. I am tired of people blaming their childhood on their actions. Also I think saying that she is black was the reason she got life. What about when black people get off easy. I don’t here y’all complain about that. If she didn’t get that sentence, then other teens would think that if was ok to do the same.
@becca: you first you indifferent, pessimistic, self-indulgent weirdo.
@foxy: are you mad because this guy can’t fuck and extort you anymore? what a shame. embracing your victimization and defending your oppressor. classic “nigger” syndrome. you’re too dead to know you’re dead.
@wake up people: go back to sleep! if her getting a lesser sentence than life without parole for killing this child rapist would make other teens think its okay, then doesn’t letting a 38 year old animal go around raping little girls teach them the same thing? or worse? DUH!
@johnnyutah: aight? AIGHT? you obviously don’t know a single person who has gone through anything like this. so you should really not have posted. that was a stupid thing to say.
@MC: right on.
this girl was a victim her whole life. so she decided one day to no longer be a victim. perhaps she made a bad decision in taking this thing’s life. but she was psychologically screwed up. physically abused and raped daily for years from the age of 13. she may have deserved punishment but she needed rehabilitation. she got punishment, and she chose to rehabilitate herself while incarcerated. now enough is enough. This young woman has a light in her that needs to be shared with the world. She can help some girls. The world, and especially this country, needs as much help as it can get.
Somebody call Oprah or somethin…. damn.
Dirtt How dare you classify someone by ‘nigger’ syndrome. You are a racist and ignorant bastard. You are a prime example of why so much ignorance remains in the world today.
I agree with a lot of what Smitty said, however….
after what this poor girl was put through at the age she was, I feel strongly that she should get an appeal, retrial, whatever. In my opinion, the victim got nothing less than what he deserved!
MC Rock On!!! I agree with EVERYTHING and feel the same way about this bullshit situation as you do. ANYONE (atleast in my eyes) who does things like that to ANY child should be CASTRATED!!! I’d even volunteer MY services for the procedure!!!
My name is Angela and Admin to GWSSF this is for all health problems around the world on face book and care2.
we also have a group called Mens Boots Hurt Us for Domestic Violence.
and we also are campaigning for Sara to be a free women now we feel she served her time for her crime
but the saddest part of all is she never stood a chance from the day she was born
and where was social services for her and the police to remove this scum bag off the streets who was a child abuser she was the victim here
not him.
please come and join us and lets get her free she deserves a brand new start after the applauding treatment that she been through.
My name is Angela and Admin to GWSSF this is for all health problems around the world on face book and care2.
we also have a group called Mens Boots Hurt Us for Domestic Violence.
and we are also campaigning for Sara to be a free women now we feel she served her time for her crime.
but the saddest part of all of is she never stood a chance from the day she was born.
and where was social services for her and the police to remove this scum bag off the streets who was a child abuser she was the victim here
not him.
please come and join us and lets get her free she deserves a brand new start after the applauding treatment that she been through.
Has nothing to do with black & white. Has to do with taking a life. She took a life, and the justice system took hers.
I think this is unfortunate. I have been studying the juvenile justice system for 3 years on disproportionate harsher sentences for the minorities. You see it from schooling to the justice system, and it is disgusting. I personally think that she should get a lighter sentence, because frankly the message that this judge sent was the justice system is here for the extortionist. Moral scrupples my behind. There is nothing moral about having sex with a child, nor pimping a child. Anyone has the right to use deadly force in the protection of his or her person. This sentencing was wrong on a variety of levels 1) she is a she, 2) she is a person of color, 3) she is poor, 4) her parents are poor and have little to no socio-economic standing. there is no doubt in my mind, that if she was white girl from an affluent family, who did the same thing she would have gotten a different kind of sentencing. From mental incarceration to parole, or acquittal because it would be viewed as just! I grew up with judges like these, and I have seen day in and day out how people of color, poor, and those with low socio-economic standing have been seen as throw away people. Incarceration is anything but reform. They do not reform in prison, they usually make bad situations worse. I do hope the supreme court comes down harshly on this decision, nevertheless, I am not holding my breath in the least. There is no social change, unless you hold people accountable. If you shame others in to treating other people’s children as they would like their child to be treated, then this will happen again, again and again! Everyone needs to stop looking at this subset of people as throw aways, because whether you want to, or not, most people do! WE as a society do THIS and we will stop repeating the Sarah Kruzan story!
this is just wrong and we society as a whole are to blame for this because some on should have killed her pimp for her .So here is a message to all pimps if i ever see one pimping an underage child i will take your life my self
Wow, all of this is amazing. This is an old story that has just now come to light. becca, you’re a fucking idiot! Had to throw that in. I don’t condone murder/crime period. But, there are always two sides to every story. G.G. had a mother who probably didn’t even know he was a pimp, so prayers for the family that lost a son, brother, father, uncle, etc.
BHowever,this child has definitely done some time for her crime. She was a victim. No matter what, I saw an intelligent young woman remorseful for all the negative things that have transpired in her lifetime. She’s had 13 years to do nothing but sit and think about what she’s done. Not just for Sarah, but for any juvenile sentenced so harshly and are showing potential of being a productive member of society, let’s hope the judicial system doesn’t abandon them.