posty mcposterton, posting again

Posted Tuesday, July 15, 2008, at 6:32 PM

I came across this news article on yahoo.com about a former Manson family follower being denied parole even though she's dying of brain cancer and can barely move. I thought initially it was kind of sad. Her family wants to be with her in her final days, but can't because she was just denied release. Then the more I thought about it, I can also see why she's being kept in jail (the murders were horrific). I was wondering what you guys thought about it? Do you think any of them should ever be released?

I read a biography of Squeaky Fromme a few years back, and in it some of the lawyers and judges that were present at her trials for the Gerald Ford assisination attempt were saying that she should've never even gone to jail. She's been in for over 30 years. I think she was supposed to be released last fall, but she decided not to go up for parole.

I guess, are there people, who even though they've committed horrible crimes, should they at some point be considered rehabilitated? I'm not saying they should be released, it's just something to think about - mostly because we always hear about the family of the victims, but I never think about the families of the person who committed the crimes, in a way they're also victims since they're also losing a family member.

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I can see where you would get your opinion. It is a sad situation when a family has a loved one in jail who has been there for a long time. Speaking as someone on the other side - my husband was murdered almost twenty years ago. I know that the man who shot him is still in prison and has at least 11 more years to go before his red letter date (the absolute earliest he can be let out). I have read about this man's mother dying, and his father dying, since he has been in prison, and I can only say that HE made the decision to do what he did that put him where he is. My husband did not have that choice, nor did the rest of our family. As for rehabilitation, I don't believe it is possible for the most part. These long term offenders have been in there so long having someone tell them when they can eat, when they can sleep, when they can go to the bathroom . . . . How can someone like that, who has spent the greater part of his adult life in prison, become a productive member of society when he has only known a prison environment? I just don't see it.

-- Posted by SoldierMom on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 12:44 AM

This reminds me of the story about the heavily armed truck driver who barricaded himself inside of an Amish schoolhouse and killed five of the students execution style and wounded several others in Pennsylvania. What I found so remarkable about the story was the fact that the Amish families of the deceased children visited the family of the killer and prayed for them and offered forgiveness and support to the killer's family. How many times do you see that happening in our society?

Maybe we could all learn something from that. While we might not have compassion or forgiveness for a criminal, we should always remember that the criminal's might just as well be a victim of the criminal's actions.

-- Posted by jaxspike on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 7:51 AM

I meant to say the "criminal's family" in the last sentence of my statement.

"Maybe we could all learn something from that. While we might not have compassion or forgiveness for a criminal, we should always remember that the criminal's family might just as well be a victim of the criminal's actions."

Sorry.

-- Posted by jaxspike on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 8:44 AM

I understand where you are coming from. However, I agree with SoldierMom. Anyone that makes the decision to harm anyone else or rob someone or anything that results in jail time also makes the decision to remove themselves from society. I don't think anyone like the Manson family should ever be let out. I watched a documentary on their killing spree the other night and it was horrific. I feel sorry for her family knowing that she is going to spend her final days behind bars and they can't be with her, but she made that decision. This society won't learn anything if we keep bending the rules for the people that already broke them anyway.

-- Posted by candasons07 on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 9:02 AM

candasons07, so you watched the Sharon Tate thing, too?

I'm not saying she should be let out, but maybe something for her family to be able to spend more time with her, like an over night visit maybe. I'm not sure what the right answer is, and I do feel really bad for the victims and their families and I can totally understand why they wouldn't want the person let out. But at the same time, if the person is dying (like Susan Atkins), and has only months to live - why shouldn't she be allowed to spend her last few months with her family. I know that sometimes prisons allow prisoners to visit dying relatives in jail or to attend the funerals of close relatives, so perhaps something similar to that kind of arrangement could be made in this case. I don't know...

-- Posted by cfrich on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 10:23 AM

Yeah, I'm one of those people that gets interested in those things. I don't know why. I like watching Snapped, Cold Case Files, and American Justice. I understand what you are saying. If it were me I would want to spend my final days with my family, too. However, after watching that documentary, I have to say that the time fits the crime. She didn't give Sharon Tate a chance to see her family--and Sharon was pregnant. Eight months pregnant at that. Sharon Tate didn't have a choice and she wasn't given an opportunity to have her own family. It was taken from her before it was even there in front of her eyes. I just don't see giving someone something when they took that very thing away from another person. Like I said before, our society learns nothing when we bend the rules for the people that already broke them to begin with! I do, however, completely understand what you are saying! It's bound to be very tragic for Susan Atkins' family! She's been there all this time, and now they only have a few months before she could potentially die. I feel sorry for her family!

-- Posted by candasons07 on Wed, Jul 16, 2008, at 2:14 PM

I do not see a problem in allowing the family of the incarcerated person to visit the dying inmate. But people who have brought terror upon the entire nation, as did the Manson family, should not ever be allowed freedom.

Chantal, I think we have to consider it impossible for anyone to be rehabilitated in any of our nation's prisons. We should consider them Universities of Crime. Our penal system needs rehabilitation itself.

What troubles me much more are the incidences of incarcerated innocents. Many of whom were arrested and prosecuted by politicians, who themselves were more interested in "solving the crime" than in the actual guilt of the accused.

-- Posted by dmcg on Thu, Jul 17, 2008, at 8:49 AM

Chantal Rich

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