Posted by
Playful Walrus on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 1:28:48 PM
Maybe the situation with Scotland releaseing the Libyan terrorist mass murderer is apples and this is oranges. Regardless, I give kudos to the panel that decided to keep murderer Susan Atkins in prison. This story appeared in the Los Angeles Times back on September 3, and was written by Richard Winton and Hector Becerra.
For the second time in as many years, a state parole board voted unanimously Wednesday to deny one of Charles Manson's fiercest followers her request for a "compassionate release" so that she can die at home.
She should have been executed many years ago. It would not be compassionate, on the whole, to release her to die at home.
Convicted murderer Susan Atkins, 61, is terminally ill with cancer and has only months to live, doctors say.
Cancer is awful - it is a horrible way to die. But if anyone is going to get it, why not a murderer?
The issue of mercy has long haunted Atkins. Nearly 40 years ago, actress Sharon Tate begged the knife-wielding Atkins to spare her life and that of her unborn child.
"She asked me to let her baby live," Atkins told parole officials in 1993. "I told her I didn't have mercy for her."
I pray that Atkins has repented and thrown herself on the mercy of the Lord.
Atkins is serving a life sentence for the 1969 slaying of Tate, 26, who was 8 1/2 months pregnant, and musician Gary Hinman.
She has served 38 years in prison, longer than any other female in the state.
Fitting.
After fatally stabbing Tate, prosecutors said, Atkins tasted the actress' blood and used it to write "PIG" on the front door of the home.
During her trial, which took more than nine months, Atkins seemed to show no remorse and maintained utter devotion to Manson, whom she called "Jesus Christ," "the devil" and "the soul."
Cults can be extremely dangerous, and you don’t have to be stupid or gullible to get into one. But you have to be responsible for your own actions.
Atkins is now considered a model prisoner known for helping others.
You mean she hasn't killed any other pregnant actresses while in prison? You don’t say.
She has been married to an Orange County attorney for the last 21 years.
Some people will marry anyone.
In recent years, she was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. One of her legs has been amputated and the other is paralyzed, authorities said.
Some of her supporters have argued that releasing Atkins would save the state substantial amounts of money in medical and prison expenses.
Well, yeah, releasing any prisoner would save the state incarceration costs.
These people were trying to incite mass mayhem via murder. Just because one of them gets a terminal illness is no reason to grant parole.