California Governor Gavin Newsom reverses parole for Manson follower Leslie Van Houten

[RandySF]

Newsom's decision marks the fourth time a governor has blocked her release.

A California panel recommended parole in July for Van Houten, who has spent nearly five decades in prison.

Newsom reversed her release once previously and his predecessor, Jerry Brown, blocked it twice.

Van Houten's attorney, Rich Pfeiffer, said they will appeal Newsom's decision.

"This reversal will demonstrate to the courts that there is no way Newsom will let her out,'' Pfeiffer says, "So they have to enforce the law or it will never be enforced.''

Van Houten is serving a life sentence for helping Manson and others kill Los Angeles grocer Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, in August 1969.



https://abc7.com/ca-gov-newsom-nixes-parole-for-manson-follower-van-houten/8367413/

[LeftInTX]

1. Isn't this an annual thing or is time just passing too fast?

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. I know my opinion doesn't matter, but

I think she really ought to be paroled. Blocking it like this is simply senseless vindictiveness. She has more than paid for what she did.
Especially given that the parole board says she should be released.

[Auggie]

7. Another opinion, but from a different angle ...

I think it would political suicide for any elected official, especially a California Governor, to show any kind of compassion in this case or the Tate case. I believe this weighs on the decision.

It's clear Van Houten is no longer a threat to society, though her participation was so heinous it's impossible to erase from memory. I try to put myself in the shoes of the LaBianca's and the horror they experienced knowing they were being murdered. Politics or not, Newsome is making the proper decision. It's not about Leslie. It's about Rosemary and Leno.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

8. And think about it.

That showing compassion is wrong.

Remind me again about how Christians are told always to judge, never show compassion? Oh, wait, do I have that right?

I am not one who identifies with conventional belief, which is why I am so appalled at the total lack of compassion here. Sort of like why I post "Remind me again why guns make us safer" in any thread that reports some bullshit shooting. I'm the kind of nonbeliever that would be totally vilified by believers, and yet it seems that I have far more sympathy and compassion for the downtrodden than the supposed Christians. I'm so sick of this. So sick of the hypocrisy, the lack of sympathy and compassion. And yet, I'm the one who will be vilified in the public sphere because I do not conform to conventional "Christian beliefs." Yeah, right.

Heck, I actually do volunteer work at a local homeless shelter.

[Dorian Gray]

9. I have a ton of compassion for the downtrodden

She participated in a brutal murder. Some would argue that the downtrodden were the people who were murdered and their families who suffered that loss.

I believe in reform, but I also agree that part of rehabilitation is taking responsibility for your crime and facing the natural consequences. The natural consequences here are that society deems her unfit to be assimilated back into it.

[Drahthaardogs]

12. She was shown compassion, she was not executed

Capitol punishment is vengeance. Life in prison is justice.

[obamanut2012]

11. Yup, it's all politics

People who did way worse than she did at the same time were released decades ago, and the parole board keeps okaying her release. It is ridiculous pandering at this point.

[Drahthaardogs]

13. Who? Please name other mass murderers who were released

Eom

[whistler162]

4. Parole her when they parole Manson

and yes I know he is dead.

[MFM008]

5. politics

Yes, she was involved in the LaBianca killings but Rosemary had 19 wounds on the back, and buttocks
that were Post-mortem.
Those are the ones LVH was most likely responsible for.
She is the only one that should have parole.

[Skittles]

6. agreed

although, she knew about the original killings and did nothing

[Roisin Ni Fiachra]

10. Manson was like Trump without wealth. A liar, a narcissistic sociopath, a grifter,

a con who knows how to get ignorant people to follow him, and use them for his own evil purposes.

The extremists in Trump's cult are right now "Standing back" and "Standing by", waiting for Trump to give the command to go out and kill his political enemies. They are salivating at the prospect of being able to use their Penis 47 customized automatic rifles to go out and kill Trump's political enemies in the name of their beloved fuhrer.

I suspect Trump's lunatic cult members will be randomly shooting innocent people for years to come.

[mnmoderatedem]

14. two ways of looking at this

she participated in a brutal double homicide and deserves no mercy and should die in prison like Manson himself, and Susan Atkins.

or

other inmates who committed similar offenses were eventually paroled after lengthy prison sentences after showing similar signs of remorse and rehabilitation, but their cases did not have the publicity and notoriety of the Manson case, thus it would be unfair to keep her in prison just because of the circumstances.

seems in spite of which way you lean, she will die in prison, like Krenwinkle and Watson.

[BannonsLiver]

15. Good for Newsom

Clearly he wasn’t moved by a sort of recency bias as some in the thread have been.

“Oh well, it was a long time ago. Let her out.”