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BumRushDaShow

(169,161 posts)
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 04:21 PM Jul 2023

Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released from prison after 53 years

Last edited Tue Jul 11, 2023, 07:23 PM - Edit history (1)

Source: ABC News

Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten was released from prison on Tuesday after serving 53 years behind bars, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

According to her attorney, Van Houten is now in a "transitional living facility."

She was released to parole supervision and "will have a three-year maximum parole term with a parole discharge review occurring after one year," the department said. Her release comes after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he wouldn't ask the state's Supreme Court to block her parole.

Van Houten was 19 when she participated in the Aug. 10, 1969, murders of Leno LaBianca, a wealthy grocer, and his wife, Rosemary LaBianca, at their Los Angeles home. The LaBiancas were both stabbed to death and the word "war" was carved on Leno LaBianca's stomach.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/charles-manson-follower-leslie-van-houten-released-prison/story?id=101106945



Article updated.

Original article -

Former Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten was released from prison on Tuesday after serving 53 years behind bars, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

She was released to parole supervision and "will have a three-year maximum parole term with a parole discharge review occurring after one year," the department said.

Her release comes after California Gov. Gavin Newsom said last week that he wouldn't ask the state's Supreme Court to block her parole.

Van Houten was 19 when she participated in the Aug. 10, 1969, murders of Leno LaBianca, a wealthy grocer, and his wife, Rosemary LaBianca, at their Los Angeles home. The LaBiancas were both stabbed to death and the word "war" was carved on Leno La Bianca's stomach.
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Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten released from prison after 53 years (Original Post) BumRushDaShow Jul 2023 OP
Good obamanut2012 Jul 2023 #1
I can only imagine how the right will go bonkers over this. ificandream Jul 2023 #2
Why "the right"? BigmanPigman Jul 2023 #32
For the sake of accuracy, H2O Man Jul 2023 #35
I said that only because the right has become the Party of No. ificandream Jul 2023 #44
The Right because its always "we strongly object to anything Dems do!" LiberalLovinLug Jul 2023 #45
I'm on DU and I most definitely do not "agree" she should stay in jail. Stop trying o speak for the Martin68 Jul 2023 #50
Yes MorbidButterflyTat Jul 2023 #58
Thank you obamanut2012 Jul 2023 #70
I am in the "don't have a strong opinion either way" camp. XorXor Jul 2023 #66
Not me, she should have been released years ago obamanut2012 Jul 2023 #69
I suppose it's time. Oopsie Daisy Jul 2023 #3
I know way more about the Manson case than I should...so LeftinOH Jul 2023 #4
She killed Mrs. LaBianca BigmanPigman Jul 2023 #8
She said she stabbed Mrs. LaBianca 16 times. mzmolly Jul 2023 #26
This teenager was high on drugs and had been brainwashed by a psychopath. Charles Manson was not Martin68 Jul 2023 #51
I believe MorbidButterflyTat Jul 2023 #59
"she didn't kill anyone." LudwigPastorius Jul 2023 #10
Krenwrinkel doesn't ask to be paroled any more obamanut2012 Jul 2023 #15
Yes, she DID kill; she stabbed the woman 16 times. oldsoftie Jul 2023 #28
the death penalty is a barbarous relic Celerity Jul 2023 #38
Barbarity is stabbing someone 16 times. Or any other number of ways people murder. oldsoftie Jul 2023 #41
profoundly disagree, as does almost every other advanced nation on the planet Celerity Jul 2023 #43
China & Saudi Arabias murder rates are about 1/10th what ours is. oldsoftie Jul 2023 #60
Your self-admitted passion for having the state murder people is telling, as is your continued Celerity Jul 2023 #61
Easy to take away "chance", as I've mentioned in other posts oldsoftie Jul 2023 #62
Get the needle, huh? obamanut2012 Jul 2023 #71
To each their own; IMO she should've been dead 50 yrs ago. oldsoftie Jul 2023 #73
You are absolutely wrong! Brenda Jul 2023 #23
Exactly. mzmolly Jul 2023 #27
Wrong obamanut2012 Jul 2023 #72
So admitting culpability is no sign of rehabilitation. No excuses, no diminishing of guilt. She ... marble falls Jul 2023 #74
When I was young, a co-worker lived with Manson for a week womanofthehills Jul 2023 #25
Milhouse should be happy about that ArkansasDemocrat1 Jul 2023 #5
There can be no happy ending. It all still saddens me. I was going home twodogsbarking Jul 2023 #6
Only if she had poured cancer-causing chemicals into their water supply.... TheRealNorth Jul 2023 #7
I often wonder what our society would be like if walkingman Jul 2023 #9
"It began an era of police violence against peaceful protesters" Jarqui Jul 2023 #13
Good info - I finished HS in May '68 walkingman Jul 2023 #18
Comparing those times to today isn't easy. Jarqui Jul 2023 #19
"there is no common connection like it was during the Vietnam era" BumRushDaShow Jul 2023 #24
Very perceptive to you....I am an oddball walkingman Jul 2023 #31
I only had to try to figure it out due to my nieces & nephews and grandnieces & grandnephews BumRushDaShow Jul 2023 #33
Tell your grands they need to get OFF TikTok. Its dangerous. oldsoftie Jul 2023 #42
Oh I know... BumRushDaShow Jul 2023 #49
Get a job, hippie Showbizkid Jul 2023 #63
Funny, heard that before. I worked for 33 productive years and as of this year walkingman Jul 2023 #64
Did you stab a woman 16 times? Showbizkid Jul 2023 #65
The police were beating up hippies long before Manson's crimes. Manson just gave them another Martin68 Jul 2023 #52
What a dumb move to have the Hell's Angels for security?? You are right.... walkingman Jul 2023 #54
Absolutely. Some very naive people thought the Angels were just leather-jacket wearing hippies. Martin68 Jul 2023 #55
I think: hookaleft Jul 2023 #11
I don't think she'll last long. Archae Jul 2023 #12
I'm okay with this Jilly_in_VA Jul 2023 #14
She lived free for quite a while between her trials obamanut2012 Jul 2023 #16
same Skittles Jul 2023 #36
Who has the get for a much publicized tv interview? Sneederbunk Jul 2023 #17
Don't agree, but it is done Joinfortmill Jul 2023 #20
+1 CountAllVotes Jul 2023 #21
+1 n/t area51 Jul 2023 #29
She should be forced to serve life for the life she took. BigmanPigman Jul 2023 #30
Well, I would agree with you, except... robbob Jul 2023 #46
I wouldn't let her out until the people that they killed were resurrected. Chainfire Jul 2023 #22
See my reply robbob Jul 2023 #47
Taking bets, within a week she'll have half a dozen book deal offers, in the millions Shanti Shanti Shanti Jul 2023 #34
I rather doubt that. A shitload has been written about the Manson family, the murders and the Martin68 Jul 2023 #53
Maybe, she wasn't in on the Tate murder scene, but the others ... Maybe a screenplay, a movie Shanti Shanti Shanti Jul 2023 #56
Pretty thin material for a multi-million dollar contract... Martin68 Jul 2023 #57
There's not a lot of juice left in the Manson orange Showbizkid Jul 2023 #67
Moving on from Manson... Pototan Jul 2023 #37
Just in time for Medicare and Social Security! (Well, a few years late). Wonder Why Jul 2023 #39
How can she qualify for it? She hasn't been in the work force. Vinca Jul 2023 #48
I hope she disappears and lives a quiet life Mysterian Jul 2023 #40
I prefer that people who participate in heinous murders stay in prison. SYFROYH Jul 2023 #68
whatever happened to Ruth Ann Moorehouse? prodigitalson Jul 2023 #75

BigmanPigman

(55,083 posts)
32. Why "the right"?
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 08:07 PM
Jul 2023

People on DU agree that she should stay in jail, so did the 2 Dem CA governors (Brown and Newsom). Are Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom on "the right"? No, both are big time Dems.

H2O Man

(78,994 posts)
35. For the sake of accuracy,
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 12:06 AM
Jul 2023

"some [eople on DU agree...." Others do not. And likely many have no opinion.

I agree with you that it is not an issue of "right" or "left."

ificandream

(11,835 posts)
44. I said that only because the right has become the Party of No.
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 02:25 PM
Jul 2023

I agree, though, that the issue isn't just a RW issue and that there are those on both sides who have a problem with this.

LiberalLovinLug

(14,670 posts)
45. The Right because its always "we strongly object to anything Dems do!"
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 02:45 PM
Jul 2023

"Especially if its an issue that we can milk as letting dangerous criminals walk free"

SOME on the left will object.
Because we are free thinkers who make up our own minds on how much is enough punishment. And if a person can be given another chance.

But ALL on the right will object.
Because they are in a lock step cult that only looks for opportunity to bash Democrats. Doesn't matter how sincere they are. Its about inflicting as much damage as they can from a story and moving on. Cocaine in the visitor cubby? Biden is a coke addict!!! etc.

Martin68

(27,631 posts)
50. I'm on DU and I most definitely do not "agree" she should stay in jail. Stop trying o speak for the
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 04:50 PM
Jul 2023

whole forum with your personal point of view. I thought it was right wingers who viewed prison as "revenge" rather than "punishment" and/or "rehabilitation. After 50 years and sincere expressions of remorse this woman has paid for her crime and is not a threat to society. The only reason to deny her parole is a barbaric desire for revenge.

XorXor

(690 posts)
66. I am in the "don't have a strong opinion either way" camp.
Thu Jul 13, 2023, 12:00 PM
Jul 2023

I just don't have desire to invest the amount of brain power internally debate this with myself. But I think the comment about the right is based on the way they politicize everything. Since this is happening in CA, to them it's a sign of weak on crime democrats. Whereas if this happened in Florida then it would show that the republican states are compassionate and rational about crime and punishment or whatever. It's like if Biden did the same criminal justice reforms trump did then the republicans would have had nothing positive to say about it. It's being oppositional for the sake of it. It's not because they have good arguments for why it's good or bad, it's all just tribal knee jerk responses.

obamanut2012

(29,335 posts)
69. Not me, she should have been released years ago
Sun Jul 16, 2023, 08:03 AM
Jul 2023

So, many not lump all of is in with "all of DU."

Oopsie Daisy

(6,670 posts)
3. I suppose it's time.
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 04:32 PM
Jul 2023

I hope she fades away into obscurity, and the next time she makes news is when her death is announced somewhere OTHER than the front page... just a small notice in the obits.

LeftinOH

(5,645 posts)
4. I know way more about the Manson case than I should...so
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 04:35 PM
Jul 2023

she's due for parole. She made some really bad decisions when she was 19, but she didn't kill anyone.

This leaves just two other "family" members in prison: Patricia Krenwinkle, who is an actual murderer.. and Charles Watson -who is directly responsible for the cold blooded deaths of at least seven people- his later conversion to Christianity notwithstanding. These two can never be paroled, and they won't be.

It's really unfortunate that the families of Tate and Sebring have spoken against VanHouten's parole; she had no involvement with the first night of murders.

BigmanPigman

(55,083 posts)
8. She killed Mrs. LaBianca
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 04:54 PM
Jul 2023

No one could determine if Mrs. LaBianca was already dead from the torture and strangling when Leslie started stabbing her. The medical examiners could not and Leslie had no idea if she was still alive or not but she kept on stabling and she said it was fun.

mzmolly

(52,775 posts)
26. She said she stabbed Mrs. LaBianca 16 times.
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 07:44 PM
Jul 2023
VAN HOUTEN: She was stabbed. I went and I called Tex, and I said that weren't able to kill her. And then Tex went in the bedroom, and Pat went into the living room, and I went and I stood in the hallway. And then Tex turned me around and he handed me a knife and he said do something. And so I went in, and Mrs. LaBianca was laying on the floor, and I stabbed her.

KING: Where?

VAN HOUTEN: In the lower back, around 16 times.

KING: How do you rationalize this for yourself now?

VAN HOUTEN: Not at all.

KING: Do you think about it a lot?

VAN HOUTEN: Yes, yes, I do.

KING: Did she -- was she screaming during this or did...

VAN HOUTEN: Once I went and called Tex, I when I stared -- I stared into an empty room, you know, just so I wouldn't have to deal with what was happening. I -- I couldn't really handle it. And I don't -- I remember her calling to her husband, but I don't have clear sound memory after that until Tex turned me around.


https://transcripts.cnn.com/show/lklw/date/2002-06-29/segment/00

Martin68

(27,631 posts)
51. This teenager was high on drugs and had been brainwashed by a psychopath. Charles Manson was not
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 04:54 PM
Jul 2023

present at either killing yet he was found guilty of murder because he manipulated these young people as part of his insane delusional fantasies. I didn't believe Manson should be given parole because he was still a danger to society. This woman has paid the price for a crime she committed 50 years ago.

MorbidButterflyTat

(4,451 posts)
59. I believe
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 06:41 PM
Jul 2023

Manson was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder.

He spent almost his entire life institutionalized.

LudwigPastorius

(14,656 posts)
10. "she didn't kill anyone."
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 05:11 PM
Jul 2023

Holding Rosemary LaBianco down while the others stabbed her to death...just a "bad decision".

obamanut2012

(29,335 posts)
15. Krenwrinkel doesn't ask to be paroled any more
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 05:48 PM
Jul 2023

Bugliosi actually stated before his death that she was rehabbed and a changed person, and if in the future she was released, he would be okay with it.

LVH lived as a model citizen between her trials, and was a 19-year-old raped, pimped out, kept addicted, etc. And, she did not kill anyone.

She served decades more than folks who committed similar crimes did. Decades more.

It is time.

 

oldsoftie

(13,538 posts)
28. Yes, she DID kill; she stabbed the woman 16 times.
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 07:48 PM
Jul 2023

She should've gotten the needle along with the rest of them

Celerity

(54,303 posts)
38. the death penalty is a barbarous relic
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 12:55 PM
Jul 2023

state-sanctioned murder is not the hallmark of a modern civilised society

 

oldsoftie

(13,538 posts)
41. Barbarity is stabbing someone 16 times. Or any other number of ways people murder.
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 02:12 PM
Jul 2023

They deserve nothing but a quick dispatch. But no worries, we'll never do it the way it should be done. We'll just act shocked when people keep doing murdering.

Celerity

(54,303 posts)
43. profoundly disagree, as does almost every other advanced nation on the planet
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 02:20 PM
Jul 2023

The US keeps some really shite company on this subject (China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, etc).

Your logic is flawed, as the death penalty has been conclusively shown to not be a deterrent.

https://www.aclu.org/documents/death-penalty-questions-and-answers

 

oldsoftie

(13,538 posts)
60. China & Saudi Arabias murder rates are about 1/10th what ours is.
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 06:42 PM
Jul 2023

"largely in the heat of passion"? Hardly. And the "mentally ill" excuse holds no water either. To you & me, sure, they're "mentally ill" because they're KILLERS, but most are NOT clinically mentally ill. I dont know where the ACLU gets that from. Just look up any number of cases over the past year in your area. I dont care what other countries do or dont do. Most other countries also dont have the guns we have or the freedoms. With freedom comes responsibility. And they cant really do a reliable study when we've NEVER carried out the DP as it should be done; quickly. Dylan Roof should've been executed the day after his guilty verdict. But regardless of deterrence they dont deserve to live & as seen here, possibly end up free again.
Yes, I'm passionate about it. Because I've been around too many murders in families I know well & seen the killers show zero remorse.And they dont seem to care about prison either.

Celerity

(54,303 posts)
61. Your self-admitted passion for having the state murder people is telling, as is your continued
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 08:36 PM
Jul 2023

reliance on discredited rationales.

Btw, in your model of expedited executions, so many people would be wrongly put to death, and THAT cannot be reversed if/when they are found to actually be innocent.

Truly done here, have a good night.

 

oldsoftie

(13,538 posts)
62. Easy to take away "chance", as I've mentioned in other posts
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 09:02 PM
Jul 2023

NEVER seek the DP for any person who is not 100% guilty beyond any doubt. VERY easy; people like Dylan Roof. Those types there is NO doubt. And unfortunately there are PLENTY of those.
But theat'll never happen either. Politicians will call that "weakening" the law

obamanut2012

(29,335 posts)
71. Get the needle, huh?
Sun Jul 16, 2023, 08:05 AM
Jul 2023

I do not discuss these things with people who advocate for murder. The DP is murder.

 

oldsoftie

(13,538 posts)
73. To each their own; IMO she should've been dead 50 yrs ago.
Sun Jul 16, 2023, 09:35 AM
Jul 2023

And those like her since then.
People like Dylan Roof & Nickolas Cruz deserve not another day. And most of the US agree; but we'll instead let them spend decades in jail, getting fan mail and marriage proposals until some start talking about "well they're SO OLD now, they're no longer a "threat", its just cruel to keep them locked up" etc etc blah blah.
Meanwhile it would so easy to change the DP law to remove all chances (that we've had in the past) of executing an innocent person, but we wont do THAT either because the GOP would accuse you of being "soft on crime".
If we're NOT going to rid society of these types, then lets empty the jails of petty crooks & weed sellers & fill them with murderers.

Brenda

(2,032 posts)
23. You are absolutely wrong!
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 07:07 PM
Jul 2023

From the article:

Van Houten told ABC News in 1994 that she and another Manson follower took Rosemary LaBianca into a bedroom and "the sounds of Mr. LaBianca dying came into the bedroom -- horrible, guttural sounds. She started calling out to him and yelling for him. And at that moment, for a brief moment, I realized, you know, these are people that love each other."

"He said, 'Do something,' because Manson had told him to make sure that all of us got our hands dirty," Van Houten said. "And I stabbed Mrs. LaBianca in the lower back about 16 times."

She ain't innocent.

marble falls

(71,800 posts)
74. So admitting culpability is no sign of rehabilitation. No excuses, no diminishing of guilt. She ...
Sun Jul 16, 2023, 10:02 AM
Jul 2023

... deserves parole.

womanofthehills

(10,978 posts)
25. When I was young, a co-worker lived with Manson for a week
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 07:17 PM
Jul 2023

He picked her up on the street and convinced her to go home with him.

twodogsbarking

(18,608 posts)
6. There can be no happy ending. It all still saddens me. I was going home
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 04:40 PM
Jul 2023

in my car when I first heard of it. Remember the exact spot.
Manson was pure evil.

TheRealNorth

(9,647 posts)
7. Only if she had poured cancer-causing chemicals into their water supply....
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 04:43 PM
Jul 2023

She may have gotten off after a $500,000 fine.

walkingman

(10,783 posts)
9. I often wonder what our society would be like if
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 05:02 PM
Jul 2023

the Manson group's horrific murders had not basically marked the end of the era of Peace and Love.

It began an era of police violence against peaceful protesters, their opposition to the Vietnam War and the negative public image that developed around them. It was nice while it lasted but everything comes with a cost.

Jarqui

(10,904 posts)
13. "It began an era of police violence against peaceful protesters"
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 05:31 PM
Jul 2023

Tate-LaBianca murders August 8–10, 1969

Before those murders:

1967 June 23. 1,300 police attack 10,000 peace marchers at The Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles
1967 October 18. "Dow Day", University of Wisconsin–Madison. This was the first university Vietnam War protest to turn violent. Thousands of students protested Dow Chemical (maker of napalm) recruiting on campus. Nineteen police officers and about 50 students were treated for injuries at hospitals
1967 December 4–8. Stop the Draft Week demonstrations in New York. 585 arrested, amongst them Benjamin Spock.

1968 May. Agricultural Building at Southern Illinois University (SIU) bombed.
1968 May 17. Philip Berrigan and his brother, Daniel, led seven others into a draft board office in Catonsville, Maryland, removed records, and set them afire with homemade napalm outside in front of reporters and onlookers
1968 August 28. Democratic National Convention in Chicago protests, "The whole world is watching". Police Violence.

1969 March 22. Nine protesters smashed glass, hurled files out a fourth floor window, and poured blood on files and furniture at the Dow Chemical offices in Washington, D.C.
1969 March 29. Conspiracy charges against eight suspected organizers of the Chicago Convention protests.
1969 June 8. The Old Main building at SIU burns to the ground. Units of firefighters from all over the area tried to salvage the building but could not put out the fire before everything was destroyed.

They were burning draft cards, etc throughout.
RFK & MLK were shot in '68

I don't think the Tate-LaBianca murders had that much to do with it.
Police violence against protestors started at least 2 years before.
The protest against Vietnam grew as more soldiers came home in body bags or badly wounded with escalation of the war and as the media turned on it.
I was in a few of those protests.

walkingman

(10,783 posts)
18. Good info - I finished HS in May '68
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 06:16 PM
Jul 2023

I don't remember the exact circumstances but I know I got my draft card in the mail. I was 2S because I was in school and I don't remember exactly what happened but later entered the draft lottery with number 328 and was never drafted.

I also participated in several protests, etc. but I have to say I loved those times - everyone seemed connected by a common cause and of course great music and sexy chicks. 😁

I think that is what is missing these days among young people. There are a lot of issues facing them but there is no common connection like it was during the Vietnam era. The Climate Change, BLM, Pro-Choice, Occupy Wallstreet, Me Too, Gun Control, LGBTQ, Homelessness, etc. should all join in a common cause and I think it could change our political environment. Probably just a pipe-dream but something has got to change this mess.

Jarqui

(10,904 posts)
19. Comparing those times to today isn't easy.
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 06:35 PM
Jul 2023

We are and were kind of too close to it.

We feared nuclear war more. That stands out.
But maybe because we didn't fear climate change yet. We seemed more concerned with pollution back then.
My first efforts for LGBTQ were in 1973-74 and even then, it was very much in the background.
The 1966 University of Texas tower shooting was the first mass shooting that really hit home for me. It was within 20 years of WW2 so guns were not the issue yet that they are today.
BLM was represented by the Civil Rights movement with MLK and others.
Roe v. Wade hadn't been decided - the sexual revolution and more open promiscuity was underway.
Me Too didn't exist as a major public issue though prevalent behind closed doors.
Occupy Wallstreet didn't exist in the same way. The wealthy paid more taxes and appeared to be more in check (than maybe they were in reality)
Homelessness seemed bad back then too.

Overall, I'm disappointed with what our generation is leaving to our kids. Our hopes were full of idealism and sky high.

With Climate Change, BLM, Pro-Choice, Occupy Wallstreet, Me Too, Gun Control, LGBTQ, Homelessness, etc. and student loan debt, I think the youth are not going to stand for it. The older MAGAs are going to die off and the youth will eventually prevail if we can hang on to the democracy.

BumRushDaShow

(169,161 posts)
24. "there is no common connection like it was during the Vietnam era"
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 07:16 PM
Jul 2023

You're showing your age!

The younger generation is probably the "opposite" - overly "connected". You just don't "see" (or fathom) how they do it. It's called cell phones and social media. They can and do "connect" LIVE via text and/or video chats, with other young people, not just in their neighborhoods or schools, but from around the country, and literally from around the world.

They have been "internationalized", which is fascinating in itself. We used to do that via "pen pals" and air mail. They just get in some WhatsApp session and have at it - live and real-time.

Any appearance of "disengagement" is probably because they are operating on a different plane of "communications" and are forming opinions, not just from home, but from who they engage with outside of the home - magnified by that unlimited access to "the world" (or at least those who also have access nationally and internationally).

The whole "gun violence" issue (and soon-to-be "abortion" issue) is very much their battle. Don't ignore the "David Hoggs" of that younger generation and the movement that he and so many others started, and that hasn't let up. Schools around the country have had walkouts periodically the past year. It has also filtered into the state legislatures with new young Reps. (like Justin Jones and Justin Peterson) who have literally sacrificed their positions and run the gauntlet, to make their and their constituents and supporters' voices heard with respect to halting the idolization and proliferation of guns.

The country wasn't drowning in guns and mass shootings in the '60s, but it is now, and that is probably top of their list as homicide by gun has become a leading cause of death among young people.

And as a note - there was no "common connection" during the '60s (other than maybe the ages of the youth participating) because the Vietnam War protestors, although having some overlap with the Civil Rights protestors, did not really have that much "in common", socioeconomically or anything else. They acknowledged each other's focus but one group was just trying to be able to vote, live where they wanted, eat where they wanted, and go to school where they wanted without de jure and/or de facto racism standing in their way. Alternately, the other group was protesting the waste of lives in a "war" that was never declared a "war", and that was destroying families.

Until we are all truly on a "level playing field", there will be no "common connection".

walkingman

(10,783 posts)
31. Very perceptive to you....I am an oddball
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 08:07 PM
Jul 2023

considering I am a retired EE who worked in the communication industry for a living before getting in to Operations. I do not text or use social media apps at all. I don't carry a phone with me ever unless I am going somewhere so you were right to pick up on the fact I really do not understand how people actually connect with each other these days. The young people I know don't like email and seem to text instead of speaking to each other??

Also, when my wife and I discuss this issue missing the old days, I always have to remind her that actually we were more than likely a minority back then even though it seemed everyone we knew thought like we did.

The gun thing I do not understand. It could be because I do not live in urban Austin but in a nearby rural setting so I don't have any fear, etc. But the support for proliferation of guns just doesn't make sense to me. ☮

BumRushDaShow

(169,161 posts)
33. I only had to try to figure it out due to my nieces & nephews and grandnieces & grandnephews
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 08:36 PM
Jul 2023

who will just send me TikTok links that describe a "situation" or their and their friends' "state of mind" - sortof like a video version of the static graphic "memes".

I have no account on any of these social media things but will look at any "web" versions that are publicly available, if I can.

When one of my nieces had a 16th birthday party last year, she and a whole pile of her friends were sprawled all over the living room, on chairs, sofas, and the floor, completely "silent", save for a giggle here and there, as they were "communicating" through the texts and video chats and whatnot - INCLUDING to the ones sitting right next to them.

Thing is - they know exactly what is going on in current events as they can suddenly start commenting about 45 and name names of the loons out of nowhere, but then will move onto something else. One wonders if they "are listening" and I found that they are, and I can actually have a conversation with them and they know what I am talking about (and they certainly aren't getting it from DU).

The older generations had to learn "duck and cover" and about fallout shelters and the younger ones have had to learn how to deal with an "active shooter" situation.

I wanted to edit to add that one of the most horrific "mass shootings" here in PA in the recent past happened in a very rural area - Lancaster County, PA in an area with Amish communities and at an Amish school house in West Nickel Mines, PA. There were 5 young girls killed and 5 others injured.

The school was eventually torn down and a new one built.



So "shootings" are not just an "urban" thing.

BumRushDaShow

(169,161 posts)
49. Oh I know...
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 03:00 PM
Jul 2023

What happened was there was a popular video shorts app called "musical.ly" that many of that age group had downloaded and were using to record themselves doing karaoke type singing/dancing routines that they could share. I think the whole "K-Pop" phenomena got that activity going as these kids were often mimicking the dance routines of groups like "BTS", "BLACKPINK", "NCT", etc

I got dragged into the K-Pop because they were the groups who issued CD sets that I got birthday requests for. They didn't actually play the CDs (this is a digital generation), but wanted the other stuff in the package like the photo-book, trading cards, and posters, etc. I had last dealt with that before all these newer groups came out when the Korean singer "Psy" came out with his "Gangnam Style" song over a decade ago.



And then TikTok bought musical.ly and rolled that huge group of musical.ly users into the TikTok ecosystem.

walkingman

(10,783 posts)
64. Funny, heard that before. I worked for 33 productive years and as of this year
Thu Jul 13, 2023, 10:42 AM
Jul 2023

and as of this year have been retired 20 years. Retired at 52 and it was the best decision of my life.

Time is short - enjoy every minute!!

Martin68

(27,631 posts)
52. The police were beating up hippies long before Manson's crimes. Manson just gave them another
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 04:57 PM
Jul 2023

excuse. I always saw the Altamont concert as the end of the Peace & Love era.

walkingman

(10,783 posts)
54. What a dumb move to have the Hell's Angels for security?? You are right....
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 05:13 PM
Jul 2023

During college I worked at the University Hospital (3-11 shift) to pay for school. I had long hair, left work one night and stopped at a gas station..noticed a cop looking at me from the parking lot. Left the station - he followed me and pulled me over searched my car, told me to get out - beat me with a nightstick and called the paddie wagon to pick me up. Drove me around for a while and them told me I had two choices - leave now (not any where near my car) and forget about it or go to jail for possession (weed - I had none). I left, called a friend to take me back to my car and wrote it off as bad luck - but I have never forgotten it (54 years later).

And people wonder why we called them "PIGS"?

Martin68

(27,631 posts)
55. Absolutely. Some very naive people thought the Angels were just leather-jacket wearing hippies.
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 05:19 PM
Jul 2023

They were violent hard core criminals dealing in hard drugs and weapons.

I've heard a number of stories similar to the one you tell about police brutality against any man with long hair. I don't think most people are aware of that. I was offended by the term "pig" until I learned more about what was going on. Gays were treated the same way.

hookaleft

(1,093 posts)
11. I think:
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 05:16 PM
Jul 2023

She was 19 at the time and under the influence of drugs and Charles Manson. She has served her time. She has been a model prisoner. Let us let enjoy her last years in the free world.

Jilly_in_VA

(14,343 posts)
14. I'm okay with this
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 05:44 PM
Jul 2023

She's in her 70s and past the age when likely to re-offend, and since she is well away from Charles Manson and the drugs and the whole situation that got her into what she did and has been a model prisoner, I suspect the whole thing was an aberration. I think she's unlikely to re-offend in any way and will fade quietly into society. It would be best for her if she could change her name since she is a rather unremarkable looking person. Then nobody would really ever recognize her.

obamanut2012

(29,335 posts)
16. She lived free for quite a while between her trials
Tue Jul 11, 2023, 05:49 PM
Jul 2023

Had a job, was a model citizen. I am also okay with it.

Skittles

(171,493 posts)
36. same
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 12:56 AM
Jul 2023

she was still in prison not for what she did, but for who the victims were.....and she expressed remorse decades ago

robbob

(3,748 posts)
46. Well, I would agree with you, except...
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 02:47 PM
Jul 2023

is that how it normally works? If a young adult commits murder and is tried and convicted would you expect that they will be jailed and spend the rest of their life incarcerated? There is no chance for parole, no chance for redemption? I don’t know the statistics, but I’m pretty sure a model prisoner usually has some chance of parole.

Which leads to the question; why are there so many here on DU vehemently opposed in this case? If we were talking about, for example, a young activist caught up in the Black Panther movement of the 60’s, tried and convicted of killing a police officer, would so many here be saying lock them up and throw away the key? Even after 50 year’s incarcerated?

I think it is the horror and infamy of the Manson family killings that produces such a strong reaction. But if it’s ok, or even common, for another individual convicted of murder, even a horrific murder, to be considered for clemency after 50 years then why should it be otherwise in this case?

Martin68

(27,631 posts)
53. I rather doubt that. A shitload has been written about the Manson family, the murders and the
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 04:59 PM
Jul 2023

trials. I think we may have reached saturation.

 

Shanti Shanti Shanti

(12,047 posts)
56. Maybe, she wasn't in on the Tate murder scene, but the others ... Maybe a screenplay, a movie
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 05:37 PM
Jul 2023

LaBianca murders she was all covered in blood

 

Showbizkid

(118 posts)
67. There's not a lot of juice left in the Manson orange
Thu Jul 13, 2023, 03:12 PM
Jul 2023

Tarantino and true crime podcasts have kind of beaten that story into the ground.

I do have a personal Manson story that's pretty cool.

Pototan

(3,099 posts)
37. Moving on from Manson...
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 07:53 AM
Jul 2023

...there is room in the Trump Cult for Leslie.

She may feel right at home there. After all, if you've seen one cult, you've seen them all.

Mysterian

(6,424 posts)
40. I hope she disappears and lives a quiet life
Wed Jul 12, 2023, 01:24 PM
Jul 2023

My fear is that she will become some kind of sick society celebrity.

prodigitalson

(3,193 posts)
75. whatever happened to Ruth Ann Moorehouse?
Sun Jul 16, 2023, 11:11 AM
Jul 2023

She dosed an unsuspecting Barbara Hoyt with like 20 hits of acid in acheeseburger.

whatever happened to Hoyt for that matter?

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