Parole Overturned

Governor right to keep Manson ‘family member’ incarcerated

It was August 8, 1969. One of the most infamous nights in history.

At the behest of a career criminal and cult leader named Charles Manson, four members of his so-called “family”—Tex Watson, Susan Atkins, Linda Kasabian and Patricia Krenwinkel—descended on a house on Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, north of Beverly Hills, Calif. There they brutally slaughtered five people, including pregnant actress Sharon Tate.

The very next night, seven family members—all four from the Tate murders along with Leslie Van Houten, Steve Grogan and Manson himself—went to the residence of Leno and Rosemary LaBianca in the Los Feliz section of Los Angeles and killed them both.

The crimes made national headlines and struck fear in the hearts of Los Angelesarea residents. The investigation took several months, but by December police arrested the suspects.

Manson, Krenwinkel, Atkins and Van Houten went on trial in June of 1970. They were convicted and sentenced to death. Kasabian took a deal, testified and was granted immunity. Watkins was tried later and got death. Grogan was sentenced to death in another Manson family killing, but a judge resentenced him to life in 1971.

In 1972 the California Supreme Court ruled capital punishment unconstitutional. All the remaining death sentences were reduced to life—with the possibility of parole.

No one thought any of those convicted would ever see a free day. And that has proven true. All but Atkins, who died in prison in 2009, remain behind bars.

But it was close for at least one member of the Manson family.

Leslie Van Houten, now 66, earned her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in prison. She was said to be a model prisoner.

So in April the parole board recommended her release. But it was not to be.

Last week, Gov. Jerry Brown overturned the parole board, saying Van Houten still “poses an unreasonable danger to society if released from prison.” We agree. Van Houten may have turned her life around behind bars. That’s commendable. But prison is not just about rehabilitation. It is also about punishment. And it would take more than a lifetime to atone for the crimes of August 1969.

Brown made the right decision. And we hope the parole board uses better judgment in the future when considering the fate of Manson family members.