Leslie Van Houten's parole hearing August 2009

[Joe Wheels]

Young and vulnerable during the August 1969 Manson slayings, Leslie Van Houten has been incarcerated for 38 years in California. Now a responsible, mature, educated adult Ms. Van Houten is worthy of being paroled and giving back to society. Endless incarcerations, except for the truly violent and dangerous members of prisons, is at tax-payers expenses. Leslie Van Houten is a model example of the effectiveness of the California detention system. Having Van Houten contribute to society only strengthens the aforementioned claim!

[Debra]

Joe Wheels wrote:

Young and vulnerable during the August 1969 Manson slayings, Leslie Van Houten has been incarcerated for 38 years in California. Now a responsible, mature, educated adult Ms. Van Houten is worthy of being paroled and giving back to society. Endless incarcerations, except for the truly violent and dangerous members of prisons, is at tax-payers expenses. Leslie Van Houten is a model example of the effectiveness of the California detention system. Having Van Houten contribute to society only strengthens the aforementioned claim!

So, what Leslie and the Manson Family did is truly violent and they are right where they need to be! Praise to the Parole Board for understanding the needs of and basis for a "free" society. Let's not forget that Leslie and the others have earned their place. As a tax payer and as a law abiding citizen, I'm glad to know Leslie and her family remain behind bars!

[SmartyPants]

Do NOT let this crazy woman out! She does not deserve freedom at all!

What can she contribute to society? Another murder?

[Neelhtak]

I am totally for punishment for horrific crimes. However, I can completely accept that some people, particularly after nearly 40 years in prison, can be redeemed. Of all the Manson women, I feel Leslie van Houten is the most likely to contribute positively to society for the rest of her life should she be released. And, although it really is no excuse, there were outlandish circumstances surrounding her being sucked into the Manson Madness...total chemical changes in her brain due to LSD and hell knows what else.
We do let rapists and child molesters out...how insane is that. I think Leslie van Houten could be released without causing threat to society at all.

[Joe Wheels]

Considering the imminent parole hearing for Leslie Van Houten I believe an objective assessment of what Ms. van Houten has accomplished while being housed at the California Institute for Women is warranted. Leslie Van Houten has educated herself and now has two college degrees, including a Master's Degree in Education. Coupling these achievements with her Teaching Certificate she is a viable candidate to teach at a California junior college. Her personal experiences are also very valuable in the classroom as she can easily sense when a younger person might be falling by the wayside and she may intervene accordingly. People change and situations change. Leslie Van Houten is more valuable in our society than having her incarcerated for another five years. She regrets her associations with the Manson Family and has changed her life to prove she is capable of contributing to society.

[Outraged]

F her!!! Look up the crime scene photos. Look at what they did to 8 1/2 month pregnant Sharon Tate. Look at what they did to the other victims. Let that bitch Van Houten rot until she dies.

[Never]

Never.

[Rev Ken]

It is time as she has spent her time bettering herself. In todays world she would have gotten out a lot earlier. She was a brainwashed young girl when this happened. what better person to teach about the wrongs that was going on back then ,then someone that lived during that terrible time in our history.

[ajax]

It is time to let Leslie out. She has done all that has been asked of her while incarcerated.People need to move on and let the past go.

[Joe Wheels]

Debra wrote:

<quoted text>
So, what Leslie and the Manson Family did is truly violent and they are right where they need to be! Praise to the Parole Board for understanding the needs of and basis for a "free" society. Let's not forget that Leslie and the others have earned their place. As a tax payer and as a law abiding citizen, I'm glad to know Leslie and her family remain behind bars!

Debra! I very much enjoyed reading your objective assessment of the forthcoming parole hearing for Leslie. As a resident of the State of California you have probably lived through the horrific murders of the nights of August 9+10 1969. I believe that Leslie Van Houten is a model example of the effectiveness of the California detention system and regrets her association with the Manson Family. Leslie and I have been in touch sporadically over the past 17 years. In her letters she indicated the 'vicious Helter Skelter mind control' Manson used and coupling that with the frequent LSD trips her actions were hardly her own in 1969. I am not condoning what Leslie did.....she's guilty! I am instead indicating that people change and situations change. I truly believe Van Houten is going to receive a parole date at the end of this month. She may be the least culpable murderer in the La Bianca case because she may have stabbed Rose Mary La Bianca after Rose Mary was already dead.....it hard to prove and it does create a grey area. Keep in touch! I like your point of view!

[some girl]

Rosemary LaBianca was 38 years old when she was brutally murdered, along with her husband Leno. They never got a chance to see their children marry and have children of their own. Never got a chance to enjoy all the years with their loved ones, because their lives were cruelly taken away.

Leslie needs to spend the rest of her life in prison to pay those lives back... Besides, if the state of California hadn't repealed the death sentence right after the Manson crew were convicted, she would be dead now anyway...

I am glad she has bettered herself, but who paid for all of those college degrees? Tax payers, probably...

[scott]

I'm not interested in vengence nor compassion. From a completely dispassionate standpoint the risk to society, however small, of releasing her is not worth it. She needs to stay in prison till death.

[T Pup]

some girl wrote:

Rosemary LaBianca was 38 years old when she was brutally murdered, along with her husband Leno. They never got a chance to see their children marry and have children of their own. Never got a chance to enjoy all the years with their loved ones, because their lives were cruelly taken away.
Leslie needs to spend the rest of her life in prison to pay those lives back... Besides, if the state of California hadn't repealed the death sentence right after the Manson crew were convicted, she would be dead now anyway...
I am glad she has bettered herself, but who paid for all of those college degrees? Tax payers, probably...

Not to mention her 3'rd lawyer was murdered. Obviously the Manson family were suspects but no charges ever filed. I'm sure she knew that murder was going to take place, but said nothing. She is right where she should be.

[Ron-Texas]

SmartyPants wrote:

Do NOT let this crazy woman out! She does not deserve freedom at all!
What can she contribute to society? Another murder?

She and the rest of the group should have been executed 40 years ago!!! A very pathetic waste of taxpayers money!!

[Ron-Texas]

ajax wrote:

It is time to let Leslie out. She has done all that has been asked of her while incarcerated.People need to move on and let the past go.

But what about the innocent victims? They had rights too!!!

[Joe Wheels]

some girl wrote:

Rosemary LaBianca was 38 years old when she was brutally murdered, along with her husband Leno. They never got a chance to see their children marry and have children of their own. Never got a chance to enjoy all the years with their loved ones, because their lives were cruelly taken away.
Leslie needs to spend the rest of her life in prison to pay those lives back... Besides, if the state of California hadn't repealed the death sentence right after the Manson crew were convicted, she would be dead now anyway...
I am glad she has bettered herself, but who paid for all of those college degrees? Tax payers, probably...

Your assessments are very good and I agree with everything you have posted. The grey area involving Leslie Van Houten involves whether Rose Mary was in fact still alive when Leslie stabbed her! Charles "Tex" Watson was indeed the perpetrator inflicting the damages to Leno and Rose Mary. Van Houten was complicit in the murders yet I feel she was least culpable regarding the La Bianca slaughters. Since tax payers have indeed educated Leslie, it is now time for her to make restitution within society. Van Houten's horrid experiences within the Manson Family and while incarcerated in at the California Institute for Women hold hidden values. Employing her as a junior college adjunct professor may keep troubled youths from following the dead end path Leslie followed. There is no substitute for experience!

[ajax]

SmartyPants wrote:

Do NOT let this crazy woman out! She does not deserve freedom at all!
What can she contribute to society? Another murder?

you are ignorant. if you can't make an educated statement keep your mouth shut.

[ajax]

Ron-Texas wrote:

<quoted text>But what about the innocent victims? They had rights too!!!

I never said she has the right to be freed. I said she has met all the requirments to gain her freedom. What does the state or its citizens gain by keeping her incarcerated?

[SmartyPants]

ajax wrote:

It is time to let Leslie out. She has done all that has been asked of her while incarcerated.People need to move on and let the past go.

Can Sharon Tate's family let it go and move on? Can the Labianca family move on and let go?

How would you feel if one of your family members was murdered brutally, and the person was about to be let out of prison?

[ajax]

SmartyPants wrote:

<quoted text>
Can Sharon Tate's family let it go and move on? Can the Labianca family move on and let go?
How would you feel if one of your family members was murdered brutally, and the person was about to be let out of prison?

The famlies should let go and move on, life is to short let her be judged by a higher power. One of the LaBiancas daughter has asked for Tex Watson to be released. I don't know how I would feel if this happened to my family.