Leslie Van Houten, free at last.

[markofp]

As many have likely heard, former Manson follower Leslie Van Houten was released from a California prison this morning after 53 years. This was after numerous parole grants and reversals, mostly at the hands of the last two California governors, the most recent of which tried to block her release right up to a few days ago, only dropping the matter after it became clear that he would be overruled by the parole board.

Van Houten was a participant in the Tate-LaBianca murders in 1969, she assisted in the stabbing of Rosemary LaBianca, which she freely admitted. She was originally sentenced to death, which was reversed, then to seven years to life in prison. She went through 24 parole hearings but in spite of a massive legal fight remained behind bars, this in spite of the fact that the LaBianca family eventually dropped their objections to her release.

I say: it's about time. The penal/parole system had clearly broken down in this case. It has been obvious for years that she was only being kept behind bars because she was too hot a political gamble for whomever was in the governor's mansion. She has for years spoken of her regret over the matter and had clearly done her time and then some (as a matter of fact, before his death in 2015, Vincent Bugliosi, the prosecutor in the case, expressed surprise that she was still incarcerated.)

Your thoughts?

[TSherbs]

I hadn't heard this. I don't remember the details of her involvement, but basically if you kill someone, I think that you can expect to be in jail until you die. Anything less than that is a gift. I know that the system does always work the way I want, nor could it. So I am mixed about this.

[dneal]

My thoughts are simply that I completely agree with your assessment. A troubled girl taken advantage of by a manipulative madman.

The tragedy now is that she’ll find it nearly impossible to earn a living.