Charles Manson follower, killer Leslie Van Houten, approved for parole

[jon_berzerk]

everyone should have a shot at redemption

 

[martybegan]

everyone should have a shot at redemption

Not everyone, some crimes are just too much.

Guys like Berkowitz and Manson should never see the light of day. Guys like Bundy and Gacy deserved the death they received.

 

[martybegan]

i agree marty without manson it would not have happened.....yet i still find it interesting he will spend the rest of his life in jail and never killed anyone...while many killers are walking the street....the american justice system is a scarey thing at times

If Manson were freed he would still find 19 year old girls who would follow him

For once I have to agree with you.

 

[strollingbones]

it was not only women....there were men involved at the 'ranch'

 

[jon_berzerk]

everyone should have a shot at redemption

Not everyone, some crimes are just too much.

Guys like Berkowitz and Manson should never see the light of day. Guys like Bundy and Gacy deserved the death they received.

sometimes the death is the redemption

 

[strollingbones]

i disagree....some desire nor deserve no shot at redemption

 

[jon_berzerk]

i disagree....some desire nor deserve no shot at redemption

so what you are saying is that they never should be able to clear a debt

 

[Kismet60]

The FBI profiler John Douglas interviewed Manson and thinks that he never intended for anyone to be murdered, that he just wanted a scary home invasion, and that Tex Watson just believed the shit he was talking and went too far. Then Manson had to pretend like that's what he wanted all along or lose his power over the group to Watson. I think it's probably crap considering the other murders that took place but always thought it was an interesting theory.

 

[rightwinger]

The FBI profiler John Douglas interviewed Manson and thinks that he never intended for anyone to be murdered, that he just wanted a scary home invasion, and that Tex Watson just believed the shit he was talking and went too far. Then Manson had to pretend like that's what he wanted all along or lose his power over the group to Watson. I think it's probably crap considering the other murders that took place but always thought it was an interesting theory.

So a convicted murderer claims he didn't do it

 

[Kismet60]

I never said that. I said the profiler doesn't think he did it.

 

[Kismet60]

I also said that Manson wanted the credit for having done it.

 

[CrusaderFrank]

They should all be released even Manson. Our government run by Bush and Obama is a million times worse and dangerous than anything Manson dared to dream

 

[Disir]

I remember that spring and summer of 1970.

Very scary, for the entire country.

If she stays in prison, OK. If not, OK.

What was it like?

What did you think when you first heard about it? What do you remember?

 

[IsaacNewton]

Manson says over and over "I didn't kill anyone". I'm pretty sure Adolph Hitler didn't actually kill anyone either, but he is the most evil p.o.s. that ever lived.

I doubt this latest follower of his well get paroled. The Governor will likely not grant it. He may, but not likely. Manson will die in prison.

 

[rightwinger]

Manson says over and over "I didn't kill anyone". I'm pretty sure Adolph Hitler didn't actually kill anyone either, but he is the most evil p.o.s. that ever lived.

I doubt this latest follower of his well get paroled. The Governor will likely not grant it. He may, but not likely. Manson will die in prison.

I think Jerry Brown might sign off on it

 

[PredFan]

She'll probably get a position in Obama's Cabinet. Or maybe she can work with Bill Ayers in organizing the Left.

 

[JakeStarkey]

Predfan is

 

[JoeB131]

Wow.... this was from 7 years ago. It took another 7 years to parole Ms. Van Houten. And the arguments didn't change much.

 

[bill718]

The vicious killers that crawled out of Spahn Ranch in the summer of 1969 at Charles Manson’s behest to kill innocent people didn’t just terrify California, but the entire country. The addled, apocalyptic death cult these murderers and their master were the faces of — a cult that embraced a pseudo-philosophy that had something to do with the Beatles song “Helter Skelter” and a race war — was terrifying precisely because it made no sense. The Manson “family” became another emblem of the strange years known as the 60s and many of its members are in prison to this day.

But Leslie Van Houten, a former member of Manson family who killed a married couple almost 50 years ago and wrote messages of revolution on the walls in their blood, may soon be on her way out. Hope for Van Houten came at the conclusion of a five-hour hearing at the California Institution for Women in Corona on Thursday, when a panel recommended parole for the 66-year-old convicted killer. She had previously been denied 19 times.
Charles Manson follower, killer Leslie Van Houten, approved for parole

Never thought this would happen.

Parole boards have been recommending her release since 2016, but California governors have been overriding their decisions based on, let's face it, political considerations. Newsom did again last year for the third time but a California Appeals Court disagreed.

I generally defer to fact finders in legal matters who have all available information in front of them whereas we members of the public do not. I find nothing in the Court's decision to be obviously incorrect and think that 53 years in prison is a sufficient punishment for a youthful offender, albeit one who did commit a heinous crime. In addition, I highly doubt that one frail old woman in her 70's poses a threat to society.