Leaders Stand in Solidarity for Sara Kruzan

December 17, 2010

The Honorable Governor Schwarzenegger
Governor of the State of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814

Dear Governor Schwarzenegger,

As experts and leaders in the human rights and anti-human trafficking movements, we stand in solidarity urging you to grant Sara Kruzan clemency, commuting her sentence to time served. We are confident that, as Governor, you will not find a more compelling case to grant clemency to a deserving prisoner.

It is well known that Sara Kruzan first met her exploiter and trafficker “G.G.” at the vulnerable age of 11 years, and experienced years of abuse, sexual exploitation, and trafficking before Sara was coerced by another adult male to shoot G.G. one night. She went from one form of imprisonment, as a victim of sex trafficking under G.G.’s control, to another form of imprisonment, regarded as an irredeemable criminal under our justice system.

In any US court of law today, Sara would be considered a victim of sex trafficking, as defined by the Trafficking Victims Protection Act (2000). As experts, we would recognize her youth, history of abuse and trauma, and experiences of sexual exploitation and trafficking as unquestionable factors for her care and treatment as a sex trafficking victim. While our laws and justice system have improved tremendously over the past decade in protecting and providing services for victims of sex trafficking, Sara received no such treatment in 1994, when at the age of 16, she was sentenced as an adult to life in prison without parole plus four years. As leaders in this field, we cannot accept such an inappropriate sentence imposed on a young victim of sex trafficking.

Sara has spent more than half her life in prison, demonstrating to her fellow prisoners, the prison system, and the wider public that she has matured into a woman of integrity and moral standing. She has been named by correctional officers as “Woman of the Year,” and will soon be completing her college education. She has accomplished all this without the possibility of real freedom. For the anti-trafficking movement, Sara is a testimony to the resilience of survivors of sex trafficking, and an unequivocal choice for clemency.

Governor Schwarzenegger, you have the power to grant clemency to Sara Kruzan with time served. Upon receiving her freedom, we have no doubt that Sara would make a valuable contribution to society, and to the anti-trafficking movement. This important action of granting Sara clemency with time served would send a clear and strong message to victims of sex trafficking that the justice system is on their side.

Sincerely,

Kaffie McCullough, Campaign Director,
A Future. Not A Past.
Vednita Carter, Founder & Executive
Director, Breaking Free
Rachel Durchslag, Executive Director,
Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation
Kay Buck, Executive Director,
Coalition to Abolish Slavery & Trafficking
Amanda Kloer, Editor,
Change.org
Norma Ramos, Executive Director,
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women
Rev. Ruben Austria, Executive Director,
Community Connections for Youth
Carol Smolenski, Executive Director,
ECPAT-USA
Margo Hirsch, Executive Director, Empire
State Coalition of Youth and Family Services
Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director,
EQUALITY NOW
Rachel Lloyd, Founder and Executive
Director, Girls Educational & Mentoring
Services (GEMS)
Edith Klimoski, Director,
Give Way to Freedom
Kathy Maskell, U.S. Prevention Advisor,
Love146
Karen Robinson, Co-Founder and Managing
Director, Man Up Campaign
Lisa Goldblatt Grace, Director, The My Life
My Choice Project, A Program of JRI
Rita Smith, Executive Director,
National Coalition Against Domestic
Violence
Jeannette Pai-Espinosa, President,
The National Crittenton Foundation
Ai-jen Poo, Director,
National Domestic Worker Alliance
Sonia Ossorio, Executive Director,
National Organization for Women, NYC
Diana Mao, Co-founder and President,
Nomi Network
Brad Myles, Executive Director and CEO,
Polaris Project
Malika Saada Saar, Executive Director,
The Rebecca Project for Human Rights
Faith Huckel, Executive Director,
Restore NYC, Inc.
Sienna Baskin, Interim Co-Director,
Sex Workers Project, Urban Justice Center
Linda Smith (U.S. Congress 1994-98),
Founder and President,
Shared Hope International
Rani Hong, Co-Founder,
The Tronie Foundation
Eve Ensler, Founder & Artistic Director,
V-Day
Kristy Childs, Founder and Executive
Director, Veronica’s Voice
Marianna Smirnova, Human Trafficking
Policy Specialist, Wisconsin Coalition
Against Sexual Assault (WCAS