Kim Kardashian quickly voiced her support on Thursday after Los Angeles prosecutors recommended that Erik and Lyle Menendez be resentenced for the 1989 murders of their parents.
“The Menendez brothers were granted a second chance at life and will wake up tomorrow finally eligible for a parole hearing,” the reality star, 43, wrote on her Instagram Story.
Kardashian is a prison reform advocate, who previously worked with the Trump White House to reduce sentences for several convicts found guilty of non-violent offenses. She also spoke at the White House earlier this year about criminal justice.
Kardashian has been a vocal advocate for the brothers recently, having visited them in prison near San Diego and writing an op-ed, urging their release.
Kardashian noted on Thursday that the convicted murderers could be released in as little as six months following the prosecutors’ recommendation.
“Thank you, George Gascon, for revisiting the Menendez brothers’ case and righting a significant wrong. Your commitment to truth and fairness is commendable,” she wrote of the Los Angeles district attorney.
“To the brothers’ family, friends and millions who have been vocal supporters – your voices were heard,” she added.
She said the media’s focus on the case, “especially on the heels of Ryan Murphy’s TV show, helped expose the abuse and injustices in their case.”
She added that “Society’s understanding of child abuse has evolved, and social media empowers us to question the systems in place. This case highlights the importance of challenging decisions and seeking truth, even when guilt is not in question.”
Kardashian concluded, “I believe in the justice system’s ability to evolve, and I am grateful for a society where we can challenge decisions and seek justice. Never stop questioning.”
In her NBC op-ed, Kardashian wrote that their case is “more complex than it appears on the surface,” arguing that the brothers deserve empathy over their claimed abuse by their father.
“Following years of abuse and a real fear for their lives, Erik and Lyle chose what they thought at the time was their only way out — an unimaginable way to escape their living nightmare,” Kardashian wrote.
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She said that after the jury was deadlocked in their first trial, the judge decided many of their abuse claims were inadmissible in the second trial.
“Their only way out of prison now is death,” Kardashian said at the time, writing that their first televised trial became “entertainment for the nation,” and that they were portrayed as “monsters and sensationalized eye candy” by the media, “two arrogant, rich kids from Beverly Hills who killed their parents out of greed.”
“There was no room for empathy, let alone sympathy,” she said.
She claimed that the brothers had “no chance of a fair trial against this backdrop.”
Kardashian also talked about spending time with them in prison, claiming they have “exemplary disciplinary records,” which Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon also noted on Thursday as part of his reasoning for resentencing.
They “are not monsters. They are kind, intelligent, and honest men,” she argued.
Kardashian also said that one of the prison wardens told her he would be comfortable having the brothers as neighbors.
While Kardashian called the murders of their parents “inexcusable,” she said the brothers were treated more like “serial killers” than two men who had “endured years of sexual abuse by the very people they loved and trusted.”
She added, “I don’t believe that spending their entire natural lives incarcerated was the right punishment for this complex case. Had this crime been committed and trialed today, I believe the outcome would have been dramatically different.
“I also strongly believe that they were denied a fair second trial and that the exclusion of crucial abuse evidence denied Erik and Lyle the opportunity to fully present their case, further undermining the fairness of their conviction.”
Kardashian also told Variety earlier this week that she thinks “they never got a fair second trial and I feel like ever since, for me, watching Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monsters’ show, it really opened up and showed me so much about abuse. Imagine if no one believed you.”
She added, “The DA’s office really should right the wrong that they did many years ago. It doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t have done time. It just means that I really believe that they deserve a second chance, and they’ve done enough time.”
On Wednesday, Gascon said he would recommend a sentence of 50 years to life for each of the brothers, which would make them immediately eligible for parole under state law because they were under 26 at the time of the murders.
“They have been in prison for nearly 35 years,” Gascon said. “I believe that they have paid their debt to society.”
He added that a resentencing must be approved by the court before it becomes official and that a parole board will still need to sign off on their eventual release.
