But women are still sitting behind bars for violent crimes they committed while being trafficked. And courts threw them in prison for violent crimes against their abusers.Ĭalifornia has evolved in how it treats underage and adult victims of sex trafficking. Juvenile detention centers didn’t help them. More than a decade in age separates Aldrich and Kruzan, but their stories are similar: They both were Black girls abused as children and cycled from one failed system to the next. I’m learning how to drive…I’m learning how to be an adult now.” “I still feel like I’m 16,” said Aldrich, now 25, her voice cracking, a few weeks after being released from prison last November. The man didn’t spend a day behind bars, but Aldrich, 17, was prosecuted as an adult and served eight years in prison. Keiana Aldrich was headed to prison after taking a plea deal in Sacramento County for kidnapping and robbing a man who tried to hire her for pornography even though she was a minor. A year later, she was released from prison.īut the same year that Kruzan received that fax, another California teenager was about to follow her same path. After spending some of her teenage years, all of her 20s and much of her 30s in prison for killing her trafficker, Kruzan learned that California’s attorney general had acknowledged that she was a victim of domestic violence. Sara Kruzan was in her cell when she received a fax that changed her life. Gavin Newsom, after lawmakers removed language that would have allowed more victims to petition to have their convictions overturned and their records expunged. Update: A pared-down version of AB 124 was signed into law by Gov. But many victims, most of them Black women, are still sitting behind bars for crimes they committed while being trafficked. His “learning experience” gave Schwarzenegger plenty to write about, and it’s worth reading his thoughts in full-if not for yourself, then to consider how to talk to any folks in your life who may need convincing.California has evolved in how it treats victims of sex trafficking. We will always have more work to do, but that’s part of what makes us great.” “It is how every society since the beginning of civilization worked, and the United States, with all its flaws, is the pinnacle. “We can see limitations on freedom all around us, because that’s how society works,” Schwarzenegger writes. Being asked politely to wear a mask doesn’t compare, and yelling about “freedom!” shows a very juvenile understanding of that word, and a childish entitlement about getting your own way. Schwarzenegger goes on to contrast anti-mask hissy fits with the genuine sacrifices Americans were asked to make during World War II. “They think being an American means not caring about their fellow Americans, and I’m sorry, I can’t accept that.” (He made a similar point earlier this month, writing in The Atlantic, “Don’t Be a Schmuck. “These are people who yell ‘FREEDOM’ in their American flag hats while not taking any time to study the history of our nation and how freedom and duty have ALWAYS gone hand in hand,” he writes. Freedom, he argues, is more than just doing whatever you want, whenever you want. “They have the right to choose clickbait instead of informing their audience.” His target, he explains, was the “whiny babies” going viral for angrily refusing to wear masks. As Schwarzenegger explains in his newsletter, though, some media outlets, both mainstream and right-wing, boiled his message down to “Arnold Schwarzenegger says ‘screw your freedom.’” In context, it’s a fairly easy point to understand. We cannot just say, ‘I have the right to do X, Y and Z.’ When you infect other people, that is when it gets serious.” It kills people, and the only way we prevent it is to get vaccinated, wear masks, do social distancing, washing your hands all the time, and not just to think about, ‘Well, my freedom is being kind of disturbed here.’ No, screw your freedom, because with freedom comes obligations and responsibilities. In response-at the idea of doing something that would benefit themselves and others-some very vocal people have started wailing about freedom.ĭuring a recent interview, Schwarzenegger responded: “People should know there is a virus here. His message has been that experts are trying to help people make good decisions for themselves and for the people around them. Schwarzenegger has repeatedly encouraged anyone hesitant about getting vaccinated to talk to their doctor. (He’s also put his money where his mouth is, donating $1 million to coronavirus relief.) Schwarzenegger is not one to apologize for his outspokenness, but in a recent issue of his newsletter, he did clarify some recent statements. As a proudly vaxxed septuagenarian, Arnold Schwarzenegger has not been shy when it comes to telling people to be safe, wear a mask, and get vaccinated.
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